Through the Eyes of Another
by Luna Venatrix
Summary: I didn't think I would ever understand why anyone would want to come here. At least, not until I met a Na'vi warrior. First story, no flames please!
1. I'm where?

Heeey guys! This is my first Fanfic, so reviews are appreciated, but please go easy on me! Nothing overly harsh okay? Soooo, please tell me if you like the story and want me to continue it, kay? Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, but I wish I did! D=

I don't think I'll ever understand _why_ _anyone_ would want to come here. I sighed quietly, resting my cheek in my hand. Maybe it was just the circumstances I was under that made me so miserable.

My sister had gotten into some trouble back at home, on Earth. That trouble had somehow ended with me having to follow my soon to be husband here, to Pandora. I still didn't completely understand why he'd moved us here, but apparently it was for his work. Not that I knew what he did...

I wanted to cry at this point. I missed my friends and mother, even my sister! I could feel my lip trembling so I bit the inside of my cheek. I refused to show any kind of weakness in front of the bastard that had basically kidnapped me!

Sighing again, I looked around me, the large, beautiful plants capturing my attention. My 'husband' had left me in a large room with a balcony and yard, but all of it was surrounded by a large fence. I wished the plants were within reach, but sadly they weren't.

I could hear my 'husband' out in the hallway, talking to someone. I crinkled my nose and stuck my tongue out at the door. I stood from the side of the bed and walked outside, pacing around the yard.

I smiled when I thought back to my old friends at home, especially my best friend, Christina. When I told her I was leaving to go to Pandora she'd tried to convince me that my fiance wouldn't notice if she took my place. When I'd pointed out that her hair was blonde and mine was black she laughed and said '_Bitch please! He probably won't even notice the difference! Don't you worry Abby! You'll be fine, I'm sure of it!'_

That was one of the last times I'd laughed. Not many people had smiled at me before I'd left, so I'd never found any reason to laugh. Many people had tried to avoid me, or hadn't recognized me before I'd left. Seeing as though my fiance, aka 'man-whore', had forced me to dye my hair. Not that I'd minded getting rid of the frizzy red mess on my head.

I looked up, startled when a plant suddenly shrank before me. I placed a hand over my heart, rolling my eyes at how jumpy I was being. Watching the plants slowly open back up again made me realized just how little I knew about where I was.

Pandora had become a very popular place for those that could afford to travel here. Almost no one knew about the types of life that were on this beautiful planet, well, other than many famous scientists. Of course, we all knew of the Na'vi, but other than that, not much was talked about.

I'd always wanted to see a Na'vi, but many of the scientists in the compound I was staying in told me to never interact with one. It seemed as if there was a very _tight_ truce going on. I knew the war between the Na'vi and humans had ceased, but it seemed as if almost everyone, at least on the humans side, was itching to return to battle.

I heard Man-whore calling my name, so I turned to look at him. When he gestured at me to go to him, I snorted under my breath, but still turned to walk to him. As I walked, I looked up at the sky, wondering if my family and friends were still okay, and if they were missing me.


	2. Rampage!

Hey guys! I am sooooooo hyper right now! I've had all sorts of sugar and almost no sleep! XD I know the last chapter was really short, and this chapter isn't much better, but hopefully once I get more time the chapters will be longer and the updates closer together.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, but if I did I'd be the happiest person on Earth and Pandora! The only thing I own are my own characters! ^_^

Ta'kuk's POV

The sky people were asking for it! I wanted nothing more than to tear them apart, but my clans safety depended on the tentative truce we held with them. I was sure our truce was only giving them time to regroup and make plans, they surely didn't plan to keep the truce with us!

Rolling my shoulders and cracking my neck, I lined up my bow with the target in front of me. I took the shot and hit the target dead on, smirking when I saw some younger Na'vi gaping in awe.

Lining my bow up for another shot, I thought back to what had happened just a few days ago.

A new metal bird had landed, bringing many sky people with it. As the clans best warrior, I had suggested that we lead a surprise attack against them, before they could strike us first, but the Elders had refused.

Sneering, I shot the target again. I itched to attack them, to stop them and force them to leave.

I thought back to the conversation we'd had after my proposal of attack, frowning deeply.

"_We must attack before their numbers grow much larger! We can still out number them!" I half shouted, glaring at the stubborn Elders before me._

"_No," One responded, shaking his head curtly, "We must have faith that they, too, will honor the treaty between our people."_

"_And if they don't? What then? Do we just sit back while our home is once again destroyed?"_

"_If need be, we will fight. But not now. Wait for them to make the first move."_

_I shook my head in disbelief. "How could you do that to the people? We are open targets, just waiting to be killed!"_

_The Elder raised his hand, dismissing everyone from the meeting._

I gnashed my teeth at the memory. How could they do this? They were going to get us destroyed! We'd barely made it out alive after the last attack!

Two small Na'vi children came running towards me suddenly, panicked expressions on their faces.

"What is it?" I asked coldly, gripping my bow tighter.

"A _Pa'li _is rampaging!" One of them said, slightly out of breath. "It attacked us!"

Nodding, I asked, "Where did it go?"

"It was heading towards the sky people's territory."

Frowning, I debated what to do. If I didn't stop it, it would destroy the sky people, but it could also be injured or worse, killed.

Rolling my eyes internally, I began to run towards the sky people's territory, hoping to stop the creature before it got itself killed. I sped up at the thought of it being harmed. Would I make it in time? I could only hope...

Abby's POV

I was still staring at the sky when the ground began to rumble and shake under me. Looking down, I saw small rocks shaking and clattering together. Everything around me seemed to be moving. I glanced around myself, trying to find the source of the movement.

A large, horse like creature came crashing out of the trees, heading strait towards the fence that surrounded the base. I watched on in horror as the creature slammed into the fence, electrical sparks flying.

"No!" I shouted as the creature roared in agony. I went to run towards it, but a soldier grabbed my arm, holding me back.

The animal began thrashing, tearing it's way through the obstacle. Finally, the fence gave way, causing it to fall to the ground, the creature still struggling. Men ran towards it, brandishing guns.

I fought harder against my restrainer, wanting to protect the defenseless thing. Managing to break free, I heard someone shout my name, but I dashed towards the wounded animal, intent on rescuing it.

When I reached it, it had stood again. Swinging it's massive head towards me, it snorted, pawing at the ground. I held my hands up in a soothing position, trying to calm the beast. It watched me for a moment, breathing deeply. Suddenly, it backed up and roared again the men opening fire on it.

"Stop!" I screamed, the beast charging the men. The bullets struck the animal, but it continued attacking. Men yelled, guns fired, blood spurted. I backed up, tears of horror clouding my vision.

The creature seemed to sense that it wasn't going to win it's battle, so it turned and began fleeing. Soldiers kept shooting, injuring the thing further. Making a rash decision, I decided to follow the fiend, ducking close to it to both cover my escape and protect myself from straying bullets.

I held onto it gingerly, jogging to keep up with it. Its large, panting breaths were the only thing the interrupted the silence now.

I didn't know how long we'd been running, but the creature suddenly collapsed, tossing me down onto the ground.

I stood again and touched its side lightly, causing it to flinch. I bit my lip, worrying it between my teeth. I had always wanted to be a veterinarian and I was really good with animals. But that was back on Earth. I knew nothing about this new creature, nor how to help it.

A wet drop fell onto my hand, then another, and another. Soon, it was pouring with rain. I glanced back at the suffering animal, knowing full well it would die if it got soaked. I stood and looked around, spotting some huge leaves that created a sort of shelter.

I pushed lightly on the animal, trying to get it to stand. It groaned and shifted slightly, but didn't move from its spot. "Come on! You can make it!" I urged, pushing up against it. It grunted and shuffled forward slowly until it was under the leaves.

Smiling at it, I patted its head lightly. It pushed its face into my hands, humming lightly. I pushed a few dripping strands of my hair out of my face, crinkling my nose when my hand came away covered in black hair dye.

I shivered violently when a strong wind blew past. The beast seemed to notice this and pushed closer to me, offering its warmth in exchange for helping it. Sighing, I curled into the creatures side. I could feel my eyes getting heavy. Even though I knew I probably shouldn't sleep, my eyes slowly shut. Against all of my better judgement, I felt safe with this animal, almost... _Connected..._


	3. Insults and Staring Contests!

Yay! Chapter 3! I'm not sure how long I want this story to be, so please tell me if it's good enough to continue. Well... I don't have much else to say other than please rate and review!

Disclaimer: I am still not owning Avatar... Yet...

Ta'kuk's POV

I found myself leaping through the trees, eyes scanning for the _Pa'li._ It was now raining, but that didn't bother me. I was a hunter, the weather made no difference to me when searching for a target. Watching carefully, I continued my search, never slowing or relenting.

A sudden flash of colour caught my eye. Jumping down from a tree, I landed silently on the ground. I crouched low to the ground, not wanting to be spotted if something was watching me. Tilting my head, I could see the _Pa'li _under a shelter of leaves, but what confused me was the colourful mass next to it.

Looking over my shoulder, I nodded towards the other members of the search party I had with me. They shrank back into the cover of the trees surrounding us, blending into the shadows.

Crawling forward slowly, I approached the injured animal and mysterious creature. As I got close, the _Pa'li_ raised its head, watching me intently. I let my eyes drift back to the tiny creature again, moving to get a better look at it.

I pulled back in disgust when I realized it was a sky person. Or, at least, something that resembled one. It was smaller than most of the sky people, which was surprising considering that they were all really small to begin with. It appeared to be female, its features soft and feminine. High cheek bones accented by long, dark lashes gave her a regal appearance. A small nose and dark pink, bow shaped lips finished off the look.

She seemed off somehow though. Her pale skin was covered in a strange black substance, as was her hair. The dark substance left behind streaks running down her face and shoulders. Looking further down, her torso was covered in black material which fell just below her small waist. Her long legs were clothed in a long, dark blue fabric, but her feet were bare.

I shook my head when I realized I'd been inching forwards while I studied her. The only thing that had snapped me out of my trance was the _Pa'li_ snorting when I got too close to it. The _Pa'li's_ snort seemed to have woken her from her sleep, her eyes slowly fluttering open. She stared up at me with tired eyes, not seeming to actually see me. She blinked a few times, seeming to focus.

She let out a wail when she saw me standing over her, eyes shooting wide to reveal a dark emerald. Pushing backwards with her hands, she scrambled away from me in terror.

The _Pa'li,_ seemingly distressed, stood and swung it's head back and forth in agitation. The other hunters that had been concealed suddenly materialized, running to help defend against the distressed animal. Hissing, they raised their spears against the girl, making her whimper in fear and back away farther.

I held up one of my hands, making the other hunters stop. I watched as the _Pa'li_ stepped in front of the girl, defending her against our wrath. She continued to watch us warily, eyes darting between us.

"_What do we do with her?"_ One of the other warriors, Kin'ta, asked me in Na'vi, gesturing towards the woman. _"Should we just get rid of her?"_

Murmurs of agreement ran though our group, some men moving towards her. I held up my hand again, calling for silence. I studied the sky person, watching as she shrank back behind the_ Pa'li_.

I crooked my finger at her, telling her to come to me. She surprised me, however, when she shook her head. I frowned and repeated the motion, expecting her to respond this time. She refused again.

"_This creature is clearly as stupid as the rest of its kind!"_ Kin'ta spoke up again, brandishing his spear in her direction. _"Killing it is the best option for us all!"_

She seemed to guess what he was saying because she bit her bottom lip, worrying it between her white teeth. She grabbed a few locks of her long hair and twisted them between her hands, wringing out more of the black substance.

"_What is your point?" _I asked him, turning towards him and narrowing my eyes.

"_We need to kill it!"_

"_The other sky people will come looking for it."_

"_So?"_

"_So, we keep it. We'll have leverage over the enemy and give ourselves a reason to watch their moves. If we can't attack them, we'll simply stay one step ahead of them."_

The others nodded in agreement until another hunter spoke up. _"Where did it go?"_

I spun to look at the female, but she and the _Pa'li _were gone.

I sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of my nose with my forefinger and thumb. I had a horrible feeling that my day was only just beginning.

"_Now what?"_ This came from Kin'ta, who was now leaning on his spear.

"_What do you think?"_ I hissed at him, baring my fangs._ "All of you, take care of the injured animal, I'll deal with the sky person."_

We soon found them because our legs, being much longer than the sky persons, allowed us to move much faster through the forest. I threw my spear, watching as it landed right in front of the small female. She gave a surprised squeal, stopping dead in her tracks.

The _Pa'li_ turned and walked back to her, facing off against the other warriors. While the hunters tried to calm the huge beast, the girl took off running. I followed closely behind her, grabbing my spear and tugging it from the ground as I passed it.

I leapt into the trees, keeping pace with her as she fled. She stopped, panting heavily, circling around to look behind her. Watching her from above, I noted that most of the black substance had washed out of her hair, leaving a different, somewhat lighter, colour behind.

I jumped down from the tree silently, landing behind her. I stood, my large frame towering over hers. _She wasn't as small as I'd originally thought, _I mused to myself. The top of her head barely reached my chest, but she was taller than some of the males of her species.Now that she stood, my hunter's side noticed many more things about her. The cloth that covered her torso clung to her, rising and falling with her every breath. Her long hair hung limply over her shoulders, reaching her mid back. I wasn't a good judge of human appearance, but I supposed that she would be what many of her kind would call beautiful.

Suddenly, she seemed to sense me behind her because she whirled around to face me, head tilting upwards. She started backing up again but stumbled over a hidden tree root, landing on her backside in the mud. She stared up at me, eyeing my spear.

"Calm yourself, female." I told her in English, trying not to hiss when she murmured under her breath, "It can talk."

She seemed genuinely surprised that I could speak her language, which made me wonder who'd trained her. If she were a scientist or researcher she would've known we could speak. Hell! Even the soldiers on the enemies side knew that some of us understood English. If she didn't know that, than why in Eywa's name was she here?

Abby's POV

_Breath, Abby! Breath! It's all going to be fine. I'm probably having a really weird dream..._ I tried to assure myself, but my head was still spinning. Why the hell do _I_ always get into dangerous situations like this? Couldn't it be someone else for a change?

The creature in front of me was what I assumed to be a Na'vi. He was tall, reaching over ten feet in height. His skin was blue and had strange, tattoo like markings covering his body, which was really well built. His arms were thick with lean muscle, as were his legs. He had a thick chest as well, but these muscles were larger, giving him a purely masculine feel. The long black hair he sported was tied up into a braid which ran down his back, but somehow, even with the long hair, he retained his masculinity. He wore a few straps of some kind of leather over his torso and some kind of cloth over his lower body, his tail swishing back and forth gingerly. The Na'vi's eyes were that of a predators, yellow and cat-like.

He took a step closer but I shied away, moving farther away from him. I could feel my lip trembling and my eyes prickling, but I held off my tears of exhaustion and fear. I couldn't show him my weakness, not when he could so easily use it against me.

"Follow me." He said calmly, but I could see the anger and rage in his eyes. What'd I do? I hadn't hurt the other creature! I'd been trying to help it! At least I had been until he and his people had attacked me. I wondered if it was alright. I had left it so suddenly that I didn't even know if it had been killed or not. I didn't think they'd kill it, they seemed like they, too, were trying to help it.

"Follow. Me." The Na'vi said again, more agitated this time. I could feel my stubborn side awakening. How dare he decide to talk to me like that? So what if I was human? I knew our kind had fought against theirs, but any suffering that had been caused wasn't directly my fault! _Take it out on someone that actually deserves it, will you?_ I thought sullenly.

It looked like he wanted to strangle me from frustration now. He muttered something in Na'vi, which I decided to take as an insult.

"You aren't exactly a daisy either, you know!" I said, glaring up at him. He quirked an eyebrow at me, only serving to make me more angry with him. In a huff, I stood. Brushing off my jeans I turned away from him, walking back to where I'd found a shelter for the beast and myself.

A grip on my upper arm stopped me, pulling me back around to face a clearly pissed off Na'vi. I glared first at him, then his hand, hoping he took the hint and let go. He didn't. He stared at me, eyes never leaving my own. I wasn't stupid. He was waiting for me to look away first, which would show that I was submissive towards him. _Not gonna happen!_ I thought, staring back at him.

We stood there for a few minutes, neither of us backing down. He seemed genuinely surprised that I hadn't looked away yet. After another few minutes I began to get annoyed with this competition, so I half yelled, "What? You may as well give up. I'm not looking away first!"

He didn't even flinch. I ground my teeth in frustration, my competitive side not allowing me to look away. A rustle behind me caught my attention, so I turned and saw the giant beast walking towards me. I smiled for a moment, then realized that I'd looked away first.

"No!" I turned to see the Na'vi smirking down at me. "Shut up! That doesn't count! I was distracted! Not. Fair." I crossed my arms, pouting. The large animal sidled up to me, brushing me purposely. I smiled again and brushed my hand over it. I grinned and barely stopped myself from laughing out loud when the rest of the Na'vi that had been dealing with the animal came through the trees, looking throughly exhausted.

The Na'vi I'd been having a staring competition with, whom I now assumed was the leader of this group, said something in Na'vi which I couldn't understand. Another Na'vi, the one that had loved pointing his spear at me earlier, responded, glaring daggers at me.

I watched, glancing back and forth between them as they fought. _You know,_ I thought to myself, raising an eyebrow at their behavior, _I could probably sneak away again without anyone noticing._ Almost as if he'd heard me, the Na'vi leader turned to glare at me. _Then again,_ I thought, backing away slightly,_ Maybe not._

A sharp voice called suddenly, making us all turn towards the sound. "Search over there! Where the hell is she? I don't care! Find her!"

I recognized Man-Whores voice almost immediately. The Na'vi leader spoke up again, seeming to make a decision. All of the Na'vi, save the leader, leapt into the trees, effectively disappearing. Looking around, I soon realized that the large beast had also left. _When did that happen?_ I wondered to myself as I turned to regard the remaining male, raising an eyebrow when he said, "Come. We are leaving."

If I'd been unsure of my decision before, Man-Whores voice, now closer than before, made up my mind for me now. I stepped forward, nodding my head slightly. He turned and began walking away with me following close behind. We walked in silence for a long time, but eventually we came to an enormous tree, which I assumed must be the Na'vi's home.

He left me standing at the base of the tree, roughly stating, "Stay here." I sighed deeply to myself, pressing my hands to my temples._ What the hell have I gotten myself into this time?_ I wondered silently, looking back into the dark forest we'd just emerged from.


	4. Of Middle Names and Hiding

Ha! 1 whole review! I'm sooooo happy! Thanks so much to Lucas Bane for reviewing! You totally made my day, so I'm dedicating this chapter to you! Well, on with the story! ^_^

Abby's POV

_He's frowning. Why is he frowning?_ I wondered as I saw the Na'vi man walking towards me. I bit my lip, a horrible habit I had picked up when I was younger. He gestured towards me, signing that he wanted to talk to me.

I slowly walked to him, speeding up slightly when he glared at me. When I reached him he turned and began walking up a large tree limb. I stared at him from the bottom of the tree, unmoving. He seemed to notice that I wasn't following him because he turned and raised an eyebrow in my direction.

When he again crooked his finger at me I shook my head, trying not to growl when he rolled his eyes at my stubbornness. "There is no reason to be afraid, female. You are perfectly safe here."

_Ouch! Quit knocking my ego buddy! _I thought as I clenched my fists in an attempt at reigning in my anger. "It's not the tree I'm scared of." I said, glaring at him.

"Then what is it?" He asked crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"It's what happens _after_ I get into trees."

"And just what is that?"

"I seem to have a horrible habit of falling out of them and breaking bones, okay?"

He rolled his eyes and walked back to me. He gripped me around the waist and threw me over his shoulder, loping up the tree limb. I struggled against him, pounding my fists against his back. "Remind me again why we're going up the tree with me over your shoulder?

"Because," He said simply, "You were being stubborn and annoying."

"Aw," I said, rolling my eyes sarcastically, "Thanks. I try."

"That was't a compliment."

I narrowed my eyes at the back of head, debating wether or not it was a good idea to whack him.

Once we reached the top of the tree, he placed me back on my feet. I looked around, studying my surroundings. At the top of the tree was a sort of shelter made of leaves that protected from the elements and prying eyes. Within the alcove was a hammock that was made with vines and leaves. The rest of the area was large, but bare.

"You will be staying here until you leave. You will be taken care of, but you can not leave." I turned to look at the Na'vi behind me, crossing my arms over my chest. _Who the hell does he think he is?_ I thought, angry at his commanding tone. I opened my mouth to tell him that there was no way I was staying in this god damned tree, but the look he sent me made me hesitate. By the time I'd found my voice again he was gone.

I didn't do much for the rest of the day, just sulked around waiting for someone to talk to. As night fell and I still didn't see anyone, I began to pace quietly. I thought back to my friends and family on Earth. I wondered if they truly were safe, or if they were hurt or worse. I'd left my home on Earth to protect them, but I hadn't heard any word of them while I'd been at the compound. Now I didn't know if I'd ever hear from them. I missed them so badly...

Shouts and yells in Na'vi could be heard from the base of the tree. I leaned out of the shelter I was in and looked down, trying to see what was happening. I could see another horse-like creature carrying that seemed to be a wounded Na'vi. Even from where I was standing I could tell that the Na'vi was in a lot of pain. People surrounded the wounded warrior, seeming to puzzle over his condition.

I bit my lip. I was sure that humans had something to do with the injury and I was sure I could probably help. But I was in the tree. I sighed deeply, thinking, _I can't believe I'm going to do this._

I inched my way out of the tree, slowly sliding down the long limbs. I finally made it to the ground, trying not to laugh when I realized that I hadn't broken anything. I walked towards the crowd of Na'vi and stopped next to the male from earlier. He seemed first surprised that I wasn't in the tree, then angry that I hadn't listened to him.

I ignored him and looked at the wounded warrior. He had been shot in the chest, obviously someone had been aiming to kill him. I edged closer to him, watching his reaction warily. I knew they probably wouldn't trust me, but I knew what had to be done. The wounded Na'vi hissed at me when I got closer, making me hesitate.

I leaned forward and inspected the wound, deciding that the bullet was close enough to the surface that I could remove it if he would let me. I felt a hand on my shoulder, but I brushed it off. I pressed my hand lightly around the wound, watching the Na'vi's face carefully. When he didn't push me away I turned to look at the male behind me. He was blankly staring ahead.

"You." I said, gesturing towards him. "Surely you must have bandages and something for pain?" He didn't respond, making me frustrated. "I know you speak English! Quit ignoring me!" I narrowed my eyes at him when he still didn't say anything. I felt the need to kick his shins, but I turned when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

A younger female Na'vi was standing behind me, holding out bandages, a few medical tools, and a strange salve. I smiled up at her, taking the medical supplies that were offered. I turned back to the wounded male still smiling lightly.

I carefully rubbed the salve, which I assumed was for pain, around the wound. Looking around at the tools I spotted what almost looked like forceps. I picked them up gently and turned back to the wound. I removed the bullet gingerly, grinning when it came free without too much of a fight.

I bandaged the wound, brushing a few strands of my now red hair out of my face. I was surprised that I'd known what to do, seeing as though I'd never had any practical experience in the medical field. I guess I was lucky. Seeing as though the Na'vi are almost more animal than human, I used my knowledge of animal medical care to heal the wounded male. I stood and brushed off my jeans, the warrior standing as well. He nodded in my direction, a sort of thank you, then left. The rest of the Na'vi also dispersed, leaving the ever familiar male with me.

I turned to regard him, almost laughing when I saw that he was still glaring off into the distance. He finally turned to glare at me, making me smile again. "You should have no reason to smile, female."

I finally did laugh, making him quirk an eyebrow in my direction. "First off," I said, turning away from him to look at the long tree limb leading to the top of the tree, "My name isn't female. I'm Abby. Secondly, I do have something to smile about. I made it out of that damn tree without injuring and or maiming myself! That's a total first!"

He sighed and walked away, leaving me at the bottom of the tree. "Hey!" I called after him, "At least tell me your name! I don't wanna call you _'you'_ for the rest of my life!" He didn't respond for a second, then said, "My name is Ta'kuk. Remember it well." I stood there for a second after he left, then made myself comfortable by leaning against the base of the tree. He'd have to come back for me eventually. I watched the stars as the night continued on. I wondered if the people back on Earth were watching the same starscape I was now...

Ta'kuk's POV

I had _never_ met a woman like her. She was so enraging! I told her to do one thing, then she went and did the exact opposite. Was she here just to create hell for me?

I had barely recognized her when she'd come down from the tree. Her hair had dried into loose waves and had somehow changed colours, going from black to red. Now that she wasn't completely waterlogged her feminine curves had become more pronounced, her hips flaring from her small waist. Her eyes seemed brighter than ever, the thrill of having something happen had obviously excited her.

Watching her work had surprised me. She had moved with such confidence and grace that it was obvious she was a healer for the humans. _Even better._ I thought, smirking at how perfectly my plan was working out. _If she's their healer they'll want her back even sooner._ I was still confused about one thing though. Why, if she was a healer for the humans, would she choose to help one of us?

I shook my head. I hated being confused. The female was a pure contradiction to everything! The few female humans I'd encountered shied away from blood and battle, but this woman seemed to enjoy leaping in head first. Humans hated the Na'vi, but this one was different than anything I'd ever seen before. She didn't notice the obvious differences between our races. She _confused _me!

Rolling my eyes, I decided to see if she'd managed to get back up the tree or not. I walked back to where I'd left her, only to see her curled against the trunk of the tree, fast asleep. I was shocked when I started smiling at the sight. First off, I never smiled, secondly, if I did smile, it would_ never_ be directed at a _human._

Screams and shouts suddenly sounded, making the woman wake with a small gasp. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, gazing about in a haze. Glancing behind me I could see some scouts coming though the tree line, dragging behind them a few human soldiers. I knew some of them were female just by looking at them. The woman stood beside me, looking at the newcomers.

One girl with blonde hair looked up, gazing right at us. "Abby!" She half screamed, catching the attention of all the other girls around her. I could feel the redhead beside me stiffen. I heard her mutter the name Christina under her breath. I looked down at her, noting her hard, blank expression. An expression I had never seen on her, even when she was faced with a wounded warrior.

She slowly walked up to the other girls, taking small, cautious steps. "Oh," A short brunette said, nodding slightly, "I totally understand. I'd be suspicious of everyone if I were you too." _What happened?_ I wondered, looking at the girl next to me, _What's happened to her? _The blonde nodded in agreement, giving her friend a sympathetic look.

"Let's see." Another, taller blonde said, "What's some stuff that only _we___would know?"

"I got it!" A woman with black hair said suddenly, making everyone turn to look at her. "We could tell everyone her bra size!"

"Alayna!" The shorter blonde, whom I now assumed was known as Christina, yelled while the other girls laughed and the woman beside me flushed a beautiful red across her cheeks.

"Well," Christina said, looking up as if seeking guidance, "Your name is Abby, you're seventeen going on eighteen in September, you're extremely smart and aspire to be a veterinarian. You _hate_ it when people use your full name, _especially_ when they say your middle name, which is Ro-"

With a small squeal the still blushing girl launched herself at the blonde, tackling her before she could finish her sentence. She clamped a hand over the other girls mouth before hissing, "_No one_ needs to know my middle name!"

She stood and helped the blonde up, grasping her hand tightly. The redhead turned to look at me, smiling brightly. "Ta'kuk! These are my friends, Christina, Alayna, Salynna, and Keeana." The shorter blonde, blackette, taller blonde, and brunette all nodded in my direction.

"That reminds me," Keeana said, grinning, "There's someone else here that couldn't wait to come and see you!"

"Oh? And just who would that be?" The girls just giggled and shook their heads. "No!" The female at my side looked horrified, "It can't be _him_! You're joking!"

"Oh, Abby," Salynna mocked, "You're such a fountain of knowledge!"

"And you," Keeana said, getting down on one knee, "Are the goddess of beauty and intelligence!"

I felt a strange rage sweep over me. Who was this man, and why was he so important? _Why does it matter?_ I asked myself. My question did nothing to quell my now simmering anger.

She stiffened and actually moved _closer_ to me when she heard a male voice call, "Abby? Is Abby up there?"

She gripped my arm, looking up at me with terrified eyes before saying, "Hide me!"

I smirked, deciding that now would be a perfect time to take revenge on her for not listening earlier. "Why? Do you not want to see your lover?" _Where did that come from?_ I asked myself, another rage filled wave sweeping over me. She shot me a disgusted expression while her friends burst out laughing, a couple of them falling to their knees holding their sides.

"_I hate him!"_ She hissed, glancing over her shoulder. She froze. A taller male with short black hair pulled himself over the side of a tree limb, looking around until he spotted her. He was tall and gangly, sporting a thick pair of glasses. He was wearing a pair of beige pants and a black sweater, both of which swallowed his toneless body. Overall, not a very good example for male humans.

As he began to walk over to us the girl next to me looked up, pleading silently with her eyes. With a sigh and roll of my eyes I picked her up and slung her over my shoulder, walking her up to my secluded part of Home Tree. I heard the man call up to her and almost laughed when she yelled back, "Sorry! I'm kinda busy right now!" When he shouted again, stating that he would see her later I heard her mutter, "Oh dear god, I hope not."

I swung her down onto her feet, letting her stand on her own. She turned and smiled up at me, then said, "Thank you so much!" I nodded at her in response before saying, "Stay here this time, female." She scoffed lightly and muttered, "I'm not going back down there as long as _he's _around." I watched as she bit her lip lightly, as if thinking back to something. As I turned to leave I heard her ask, "Why do you refuse to call me by my name?" I raised an eyebrow at her, smirking when she began to pout.

"My name, in case you missed it," She said, crossing her arms, "Is Abby. Not female, not woman, Abby!"

I huffed and said, "It doesn't matter what I c-"

"Oh yes it does!" She interrupted, walking in front of me, "I call you by your name. It's the _least_ you can do!"

"Fine," I said before stepping around her, "Abby."

I didn't miss the triumphant grin she gave me before I left.

I could still hear that annoying man calling up to her. I growled under my breath at the sound, baring my fangs slightly. I began to question myself again, wondering why I was so angry about him trying to talk to the woman. _It isn't about her,_ I assured myself silently,_ I find him annoying because he's annoying. Nothing more. Nothing less._


	5. So They're Dancers?

Arg! I have been so busy lately! I'm sooooo glad this chapter is finally done! The song used in the story is 'Call Me Maybe' By Carly Rae Jepsen. So, here it is! Chapter 5! Thanks to PhoenyxWarrior for reviewing and pointing out something I forgot to say. The reason the humans can now breath in Pandora's atmosphere is because they were slowly introduced to their air while traveling, which now allows them to breath freely. Please, please, please review!

Ta'kuk's POV

_Woman!_ I had thought Abby was enraging before, but I was wrong. Before, she'd merely been irritating, now she was making me furious. I had gone to see her this morning, to see if she was hungry or still sleeping. She was neither. She wasn't there.

In fact, none of the human females were. They had all mysteriously disappeared sometime during the night. I stormed around Home Tree, waiting for word on their whereabouts from the few scouts I'd sent out to look for them. I was feeling anxious, but why I felt that way was unknown to me.

"_Ta'kuk!" _Someone called to me in Na'vi, making me turn. Kin'ta strode purposely towards me, frowning deeply. "_What happened? All five of the females are gone!"_

"_I know. Calm yourself."_ I responded evenly. I couldn't explain why, but I felt as panicked as he looked. I couldn't stop thinking of all the things that could happen to the redhead. She could be eaten, poisoned, or even taken back by the humans that were probably looking for her. What if a viperwolf found her? There was absolutely no way she could take care of herself here! She was too small and delicate!

_Where the hell is this coming from?_ I needed to get away from these humans before they completely corrupted my mind. "_Sirs!" _The call had both of us whirling around to face the poor surprised hunter. "_We...We found them!"_ He said, pointing off into the distance. Kin'ta and I exchanged a look before heading off to find the women.

We traveled through the trees and eventually found them. They were standing in a small clearing, all of them laughing, talking, and stretching. Kin'ta was glaring at the small brunette, though I knew for a fact she couldn't see either of us. Before he could jump down to them I held up my hand. He shot me a strange look, but still stopped. I turned back to look at the girls and what I saw made me freeze.

My eyes were immediately drawn to Abby. She had changed her clothes since last night, now sporting a black cloth over her torso which stopped just below her sternum, leaving her entire middle section bare. Her lower body was clothed in something similar to what they had been before, the only differences being that these were black and very, _ very_ short. On her feet, she wore the same covers that the human soldiers wore. They covered part of her leg, stopping mid-calf, and laced tightly up the front.

She grabbed her wavy locks and pulled them behind her head, attempting to tie them back. She huffed lightly when a few strands fell back into her face. The brunette Kin'ta had been charged with said something to her, making her smile and nod her head.

The brunette walked over to the base of a tree and picked up a small machine. I fiddled with it for a moment, then a strange melody began playing from it. All of the other girls were now smiling, moving lightly with the beat of what I assumed was their kind of music. I had seen something like this before, many humans carried these small devices with them.

A woman began to sing lightly over the music, the girls beginning to move in unison. They flexed and moved to the beat, a strange sort of dance. The beat began to speed up and got slightly louder, the girls adjusting their movements to match the change in tempo.

They began to move away from each other, closer to the human males that I'd only just noticed. They were watching the girls, entrapped by them. I felt another swell of anger as Abby got too close, in my opinion, to one of the men. She smiled flirtatiously at him, dancing ever closer. Slipping him a piece of paper, she backed up, winking at him.

I clenched my fists, glaring at her from in the tree. They continued to move, but I could no longer concentrate on their movements. I kept replaying the moment when she'd winked at the man, smiling brightly. The music ended and the human males clapped, some whistling. While the blackette rushed to turn off the music, the other girls parted. Abby walked off with the shorter blonde, Christina, and the brunette, Keeana.

I nodded to Kin'ta and jumped down from the tree, landing in front of the girls. Keeana and Christina flinched in surprise, but surprisingly Abby didn't. I narrowed my eyes at her, watching her carefully while Kin'ta stepped forward and grasped the brunettes upper arm. Abby glared at her friends harsh treatment, but said nothing, choosing instead to face me and ask, "What?"

"Where were you?" I asked, fighting down the urge to shake her.

"Here. Duh." She replied, raising an eyebrow. The girls around her giggled, obviously finding her bad attitude amusing.

"You will come back to Home Tree. Now." I said, still wanting to knock some sense into her.

She huffed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Yea, like that's gonna happen!"

"You are on our territory. You will listen. And no," I said, holding up my hand, "You don't have a choice in this."

She growled under her breath, grabbing her two friends and dragging them away from us. I was about to demand she come back when the blackette and tall blonde, who had been watching the entire confrontation, shook their heads, a clear warning to avoid making her angry. The humans continued to applaud the women, showering them with compliments.

The group slowly dispersed, leaving the girls alone. I looked at Kin'ta, noting that he, too, was outraged at their obvious disrespect. I growled under my breath, pinching the bridge of my nose and muttering about stupid humans. Abby suddenly turned, almost as if she'd heard me. I sashayed towards me, grinning all the while. When she reached me she stopped and asked, "What? You didn't like our dancing?"

"Was that what it was?" She dropped her jaw, looking extremely offended at my comment.

"Why you... You... Arg!" She gingerly pressed her fingers to her temple. I hated to admit it, but getting her angry was very amusing. She glanced over her attention and did a double take. She stared at something over her shoulder, biting her lip.

I looked to where her attention was fixed, clenching my teeth when I saw a male human. He had long dark hair that fell to his shoulders and was well built, but couldn't compare to a warriors physique. _Defending your ego?_ I asked myself, turning my attention back to the girl in front of me.

She gestured towards the blackette, telling her to come over. The shorter woman trotted over, giving me a once over. "Alayna?" Glancing towards the dark haired man with a pointed look, "Who's that?"

She looked over as well and smiled, "That's Xavier."

"Why didn't I know about him?"

"Oh yea!" The blackette grinned, "I forgot you had a thing for guys with long hair. He was watching you, you know."

"Really!"

"You should go talk to him!"

"Hi Abby."

The afore mentioned girl stopped dead. "Hey Turner."

The blackette covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh at her friends obvious discomfort. The tallest blonde noticed this and dashed over.

"Abby! You have to go to that... Thing... You know..." The blonde looked at her purposefully.

"Oh right! The thing!" The girl nodded her head quickly. "Come on Ta'kuk." She surprised me when she grasped my hand and pulled me along behind her. "Bye Turner." The dismissal was clipped and toneless.

My larger steps quickly overtook hers, making her jog to keep up. Even though I was walking faster she never let go of my hand, still clinging to it desperately. Half of me was tempted to detach her, to shake her off of me, but another part didn't seem to mind her holding on. This confused me, thus making me frustrated. Why the hell did she affect me this way?

Abby's POV

_I really need to stop making him mad at me._ I thought sullenly as Ta'kuk glared at the back of my head. I finally realized I was still holding his hand, which was probably making him angry. I dropped his appendage as if it had burned me, drawing away.

He gave me a long look, then asked, "Just why is it you hate that human so much?"

The nerve! If there was one thing I hated, it was people prying into my private life. Deflecting, I replied with a question, "Why do you hate _all_ humans so much? Besides, it's none of your concern!"

"Then tell me what you were doing back there."

"I already told you. My friends and I were dancing."

"Yes. But what was the point of the dance?"

I looked at him for a moment, then started laughing. "You think it meant something? Thats funny! We dance for fun, not because we want to prove something."

"I don't believe that for a single second." He said, frowning again. "It looked like a mating dance to me."

I grabbed my sides, laughing so hard I thought I was going to crack a rib. "What?" The question was laced with offense. I waved my hand, dismissing the inquiry and continued walking. "You read into things too much." I told him, still giggling.

"You and your _friends_ have no self respect."

I stiffened at that, turning to watch him. He had a stubborn look on his face, still frowning deeply. "On the contrary, I probably have too much self respect for my own good. I put on a front while performing. It makes the dance seem more interesting."

He snorted in disbelief, rolling his eyes. "Sure."

_Breath, Abby! It's not good to punch Na'vi, no matter how stupid they are._ I turned away from him, stating, "Think what you will about me, but you couldn't be more wrong."

"So you won't defend yourself?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "It doesn't matter what you think seeing as though I already know you're wrong. If your wrong, why would it bother me?" I pulled my hair out of its tie, letting it fall free.

I looked at the scene around me, still amazed by the beauty of the planet. I brushed the backs of my fingers over a plant, wondering what it was. I paused for a second, thinking. I could've smacked my forehead. _Duh! Why don't I just ask Ta'kuk to tell me what it is?_

"Ta'kuk!" He quirked an eyebrow at me, signaling he was listening. "Show me the forest."

"No." He scowled at me, folding his arms over his chest._ Which is really muscular._ Now I really wanted to slap myself. What the hell was I thinking?_ Something you know is true but refuse to admit to yourself?_ Great, now I was having a disagreement in my head!

"You should."

"And just why is that?"

I smirked, "Because you know just as well as I do that, even without you, I'll go exploring."

He shot me another dirty look before saying, "Fine."

"See? That wasn't so hard."

Someone called out in Na'vi, making Ta'kuk and I turn. He sighed and turned to me, saying, "I will come find you later. But stay at the Home Tree." I sighed, but nodded. I really wanted to see the forest, so I would do what he asked. This time.

He then left, leaving me alone._ Wait._ I thought_ How the hell do I get back? Crud!_ _This really isn't my day for thinking, is it?_ I rubbed my temples gently to try and fend off the headache that was now threatening to overtake me.

A rustling sound caught my attention. I looked over my shoulder and smiled when I saw the large horse-like creature I had escaped the compound with walking though the trees towards me. I patted its massive head when it brushed up close to me.

_I wonder..._ I glanced around, looking for something to stand on. I eventually found a plant that would support my weight and hauled myself up. The large creature followed me, presenting its back when it guessed my intention.

I swung my leg over the giant animal, pulling myself into a sitting position. I leaned down close to its ears and murmured, "Can you please take me back to the Home Tree?" The beast snorted and began moving, jolting me slightly. I laughed as we moved, it was all so surreal! How was this even possible? One day I'm at home, living a normal life, then I'm here.

_That's it,_ I thought gleefully, _I never want to leave this place!_ Sure, I missed my family, but we hadn't been the same since the tragedy. Besides, I had my friends here and I was sure I could find something to entertain me here. And, for the first time in three years, I was happy.


	6. What Was it Like?

Hi guys! Welcome back to the story! The next two chapters I write will be based around the two main characters pasts, so rate, review, and tell me what you think! On to the reading!

Ta'kuk's POV

I walked towards the Elders, who had called a meeting. They looked at me and began the discussion bluntly, _"The human females._"

"_Yes? What about them?" _I caught Kin'ta stiffen, but he stayed silent.

"_When will we be rid of them? If this plan of yours is going to work we need to trade them for peace. When do we begin negotiations?"_

"_I'm not sure yet, but," _I added quickly, "_The humans will definitely come asking for them soon."_

"_And if they don't?"_

"_They will. They don't have that many females on this planet and we have five. They will come for them soon. I assure you."_ The thought of someone coming to find the humans bothered me. They could try and start war on our own turf, or worse. What if they did come to look for the females? The would most likely take them all. What would become of the little firecracker I was charged with?_ What does it matter to me? She probably already has a human mate who's looking for her now._ That thought only made me feel worse.

"_Fine."_ On of the Elders said, dragging me from my thoughts, "_The humans may stay for, at most, two more weeks. After that we take them back to their territory and start the negotiations ourselves."_

I wanted to protest against that. Two weeks was such a short time! I wasn't worried about the redhead or anything, I just wanted to make the humans suffer for as long as possible. _Yea, you keep telling yourself that._

I walked out of the meeting with Kin'ta, neither of us speaking. I could've laughed at this. Kin'ta, sworn human hater, was definitely growing attached to the small brunette in the group of girls. Speaking of the girls, where were they?

It didn't take me too long to find them seeing as though, for once, Abby had followed my directions and stayed here. They were all sitting in a closed off area now, talking and laughing.

I could hear Salynna talking now, saying, "For art class we had to draw interpretations of people. I chose you Abby!"

I listened as the afore mentioned girl asked, "Why?"

"Because my interpretation of you will be easy to draw."

"Again, why?"

"Simple, to me, you are a brain in a jar!"

All of the girls began laughing at that. "What made you think to draw me as a brain?"

"Well, you are so smart and I get all of my answers for everything from you that I decided that you are now my brain."

"I agree!" This came from Alayna, who was still grinning widely.

I approached the room after having realized that I'd stopped after hearing Abby's name. She seemed to sense me, and odd little talent of hers, and looked up. She smiled and stood, grabbing a few items off the floor in front of her. She stuffed the items into a bag and slung it over her shoulder, adjusting it so the strap lay comfortably across her torso. She waved a goodbye to her friends and stepped outside to greet me.

"I see you." I told her, surprised when she smiled and said, "I see you, too."

She must've noticed my expression because she said, "What? You didn't think you were the only Na'vi I've talked to while I've been here, did you? Trust me, I know more about you and your people than you might think."

I nodded but didn't say anything, leading her down the tree to where my _Pa'li_ was waiting for us. "I've been meaning to ask," I looked over my shoulder to appraise the girl behind me, "What is that creature?"

"It's a _Pa'li._" She nodded quietly. I lifted my braid and formed the bond with my _Pa'li. _I heard the girl gasp behind me as I pulled myself up onto the animal.

"How did you do that?" She asked, breathless with interest, "What was it?"

"It's a bond," I told her, offering her my hand to pull her up in front of me, "We call it the _tsahaylu. It allows us to connect with any living creature around us." _She took the offered hand, letting me haul her up. My skin tingled where she touched me, sending pleasant shivers crawling down my spine.

I tried to shake off the feeling, tried to ignore it. It became much harder to do so when I reached around her to grasp my _Pa'li._ It began to move, following my command to take us into the forest. My bare skin brushed hers with every movement. I also couldn't help but notice how warm her skin was. It felt... _Nice._

After a while of riding, we stopped in a deeper part of the forest. She carefully slid off my _Pa'li_, her shoes hitting the ground making a small thud. She walked over to a large luminescent plant, carefully inspecting the leaves as I dismounted the creature. "How interesting." The girl said quietly, taking out a large book from her shoulder bag. She opened it and grabbed a writing utensil, jotting something down. Occasionally looking up, she continually scribbled in the book, hand dancing across the pages.

"Why the sudden interest?" I asked her, leaning against a nearby tree. She looked up, eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

"What is the point in taking all of these notes?" I was becoming suspicious. Why would she want to know about a world that had nothing to do with her?

"I'm not allowed to be curious? My planet is nothing like this, so it's all new to me."

Her last comment made me pause. What was her planet like? I knew of Earth, but I didn't know anything_ about_ it. She'd said it looked nothing like Pandora, so what did it look like? I couldn't even begin to imagine.

"What was it like on Earth?" I had to ask, the curiosity eating away at me.

"Well," She said thoughtfully, "I suppose you would get a different answer from every person you asked, seeing as though everyone lives a separate life."

"What was it like for you then?"

"If that's an attempt to get me to talk about my past it isn't gonna work."

"Why?" I originally hadn't been trying to get her to talk about her past, but now I wanted to know. Why didn't she want to speak of it?

"Not answering that."

"You have a bad past then?"

"If you must know, it wasn't the best."

"Explain."

"Only if you tell me about your past as well!"

I contemplated her offer for a moment. She was willing to tell me about her past, which was suddenly much more interesting than hearing her views of Earth, if I would tell her of my past. Not knowing was killing me, so I finally agreed with a short nod of my head.

"Seriously?" She asked, cocking her head to the side slightly, "Wow. I never thought you'd go for that deal. I figured you would be a really private person."

She looked around for a moment, almost as if she was searching for words. "Well, I don't really remember that much of my early childhood. The first thing I really remember was when I was about six.

We had an average sized family, my mother and father, my sister and I. We were going to visit some relatives when my dad started acting strangely. We didn't think anything of it at first, but he started to get worse. He began having trouble speaking and his fine motor skills were deteriorating quickly. We eventually took him to a doctor," She paused here, taking a deep breath, "They told us he had brain cancer."

I recognized the word, but I couldn't remember what it had meant. She must've seen my thoughtful expression because she said, "Cancer is caused when a cell grows faster than the cells around it. We don't know what causes it, nor how to cure it. I didn't understand what was happening at the time," Here she gave a small, sad smile, "At least not until my sister told me he was going to die. He had several surgeries to try and remove the cancer, but it came back after every attempt.

He began to take medications that would help him to live longer, but they wouldn't cure him. The medications did strange things to him. He became violent. I can remember one incident when he tried to kill my mother."

I was shocked at this. Why would humans create a drug that would cause those that took it to hurt their loved ones?

"I know he didn't mean to though. My father was a great man with an even greater mind. He loved my family, so I still don't hold anything against him. As my sister and I grew the violent outbursts got worse. My sister was hurt and sad so she, too, turned to violence as an answer. I loved her, and I still do, but I grew up afraid of her. I suppose that's where I got my volatile side from as well.

When I was ten, I developed a disease that would normally destroy my hearing. I was in pain all of the time, any loud sounds would make me writhe. Strangely enough though, my hearing seemed to get better. After a while I realized that I could hear over ten times better than the average human. I still don't understand why it happened, but I'm glad it did. I like my hearing." She grinned at the last comment, quietly laughing.

"When I was fourteen, my dad died. It was very hard at home after that, everyone was hurting. We slowly drifted apart, all of us avoiding each other. I relied strongly on my friends during this time. I didn't think my life could get worse, but I was wrong.

Eight months later, the people that were my friends at the time abandoned me. Someone had told a lie and they left me for it. I tried to ignore them, but I guess that just made them more angry. They attacked me one day. All I remember was walking home when one of them punched me in the back of the head. My head slammed into the ground and that's all I remember. I hid the bruises and cuts using makeup. Shortly after I met my current friends, so in a way I'm glad my old friends left. If they hadn't I never would've known my new friends."

I couldn't believe it. I had never met anyone that was enough of a coward to attack an unarmed person from behind. And all over something that never truly happened? Humans now disturbed me more than ever.

"About a year after that my sister left home. It broke my mom, she was never the same again. My mother was angry at her for leaving as well, she told my sister to never come back. My sister broke into our house a few days later when I was home alone. I tried to get her to leave, but she wouldn't. She attacked me, choking me until I passed out. We didn't hear from her again after that."

Her pain was obvious to me now. How had I missed it before? She had seen and survived so much that I couldn't help but admire her courage and tenacity.

She looked at me and smiled, saying, "Well, what's done is done. There's nothing I can do about it now."

She meandered over to me, sitting next to me. I surprised myself when I couldn't work up a feeling of disgust. Was it just because I now knew her past?

"So what about you?" She asked, gazing me intently, "What was your past like?"


	7. Now it's Your Turn!

Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update! I was sick for three weeks and, being in high school, the amount of homework I missed was amazing... Oh well! Btw, all of the girls are based off of my friends and myself, so all of their pasts have actually happened. A.K.A, don't you dare tell me that the pasts aren't realistic! 'Cause they are! Read, rate, and review! And review if you also hate balancing scientific equations! Here we go!

Abby's POV

Ta'kuk shrugged lightly, stating, "It wasn't all that interesting."

"Oh no you don't!" I said, crossing my arms over my chest, "I told you about my past, so now it's your turn to tell me about yours!"

He rolled his eyes at my childish behavior. "Most of my childhood was spent either training or fighting."

I frowned at his serious attitude. "Surely there was _some_ fun in your past? Or perhaps a reason you decided to begin fighting?" I asked, cocking my head to the side slightly.

He sighed deeply. "My reason for fighting is my clan." He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, gauging my reaction. Whatever he saw in my expression pushed him to continue.

"When the humans came here the first time and destroyed our Home Tree they killed many of my people. I was a child at the time, so I don't remember too much about the actual attack. What I do remember is that I lost both of my parents that day."

I covered my mouth with my hands to keep from gasping. I had lost my dad when I was fairly young, but he'd lost _both_ of his parents as a mere child.

"I began training shortly after," He continued with a strait face, "Soon I became the leader of the hunting packs. When the humans returned again I was appointed as head warrior."

When he said nothing more I tentatively asked, "Didn't you have any friends? Like Kin'ta! He's your friend, isn't he?"

Ta'kuk huffed indignantly and said, "No. He is merely my second in command."

"Wow. Harsh." I muttered lightly under my breath, hoping he wouldn't hear me. Louder, I said, "Weren't you lonely?"

"No. Of course not."

"That's so sad!"

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why?

"You of all people should know. Didn't your friends attack you?"

I had to laugh at his serious tone. "Yea, they made my life hell for quite a while, but at the same time I still have a lot of good memories from time we spent together!"

"I highly doubt that anyone could have good memories of the people that tried to harm them."

"Wow. You're like a total pessimist, huh?"

When he glared at me again I began to think of examples of good times I'd had with my old friends.

"Well," I said, biting my lip gently, "I remember one time. It was my birthday, so my dad took my friends, sister, and I out to eat. So, once we got there, one of my friends, Laura, had been drinking water and I guess someone made her laugh 'cause she laughed and ended up spitting water all over my dads face!"

I laughed as Ta'kuk raised an eyebrow, saying, "Just wait. It get's better." I grinned and continued, "So later on we went to the washroom to look at ourselves in the mirrors, although I still don't know why girls do that. Anyways, they play music in the bathrooms on Earth -and before you ask, no, I don't know why, they just do- and tango music came on. So Laura and one of my other friends, Toni, began doing the tango in the bathroom while my sister and I watched. We were all laughing so hard that we didn't notice that there was a garbage can in the corner of the room. While Toni and Laura were dancing they got too close and Laura accidentally dumped Toni into the trash can head first.

While Laura went to the bathroom my sister, Toni, and I walked back out to join my dad. He had already paid the bill so we could leave whenever we wanted, so we walked out to our car without Laura. We wanted to confuse her, so we didn't tell her where we'd gone. While we were sitting in the car Laura walked out and tried looking for us. When she didn't find us she started spinning in circles to amuse herself. Her shoe fell off, so she began to yell at it about why it should stay on her foot. Then an elderly couple walked by and watched her for a second before walking faster. I guess they must've though she was crazy or something. She eventually found us, but only because we were all laughing so loud she could hear us."

Ta'kuk was staring at me like I was crazy. I had a feeling he was about to ask about Earth's state of mind, so I said, "No. It's just my friends and I that are crazy. Most humans aren't as strange as we are."

He shook his head at me incredulously. "I will never understand humans." He said simply.

"That's okay," I said, snickering quietly, "I don't understand _myself _half the time either!"

He chuckled at that, making me grin even wider._ I think that's the first time I've ever actually heard him laugh before._ I thought,_ It sounds kinda nice._

_Whoa girl! Slow down a bit there, you barely know the guy, err... Na'vi..._

_Same difference! He's male isn't he?_

_It is different! He might be male, but he's of a different species!_

_And now I'm having an argument with myself... That can't be healthy..._

_It's not unhealthy if no one else knows about it._

_Shut up you! Or... Me? God, I'm such a nutcase!_

_Yea, but we already knew that._

I glanced at Ta'kuk, smiling when I saw that he was also lost in though.

"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout?" I asked him, adding a southern drawl to my voice.

"Nothing." He said, ignoring my new accent.

"Nothin', or somethin'?" When he gave me an appraising look I asked, "Wha?"

"You changed your voice."

"Yeah-huh."

He shook his head at me and asked, "Why?"

"'Cause I could?"

"Was that supposed to be a question or an answer?"

"Hmm... Both?"

"That makes no sense."

"No, you make no sense!"

He gave me confused look which made me laugh. I loved how my weird quirks didn't bother him, sure they made him wonder about my sanity, but he never judged me. It was funny. Back on Earth I would've been seen as odd, would've been avoided and, _heaven forbid, _unpopular. But here with Ta'kuk, even though he hated humans, he still accepted me more than anyone had back home.

_I could get used to this..._ I thought.

"Why?"

His sudden question caught me off guard. "Huh?"

"Why do you change your voice? What is the point?"

I shrugged, saying, "'Cause I've gotta strange obsession with accents. Can't explain it, but I just love 'em! Why d'you ask?"

He shook his head and ignored my question. I frowned, narrowing my eyes at him. A sudden idea struck me, making me grin again. "Let's play twenty questions!"

When he raised his eyebrows at me I said, "It's a game. You pretty much just take turns asking each other questions and then answerin' 'em. Ya gotta answer truthfully though!"

He nodded thoughtfully before responding. "Alright. Sounds intriguing. Ask me anything."

I tapped my chin lightly before asking, "What does your name mean? Surely it means somethin', 'cause the names on Earth all mean somethin' different."

"My name means strike. What about yours?"

I smiled at this, "Fathers joy. If you had to pick one weapon to fight with, what would it be?"

"I suppose my bare hands."

I could practically feel my insides melting at his words. _There was a reason that, out of all the Disney men, I always liked Tarzan the best..._

"Your weapon of choice?"

"Umm... I guess a bow and arrow. It's so much easier to kill people when they don't see it comin'. When did you bond with your Pa'li?"

"Young." I raised an eyebrow at him, and when he smiled knowingly I glared. He knew that giving me a shallow answer would make me ask again.

"Do most humans smile while planning to murder other humans?"

I cackled evilly, tossing my head back. "Nah, you just drew the short straw when it came to me. I'm an _extra special_ case. When did you become the head warrior? And don't you dare say 'young' again!"

He chuckled and said, "Shortly after the attack on Home Tree."

I nodded, deciding that, of all the things he could've said, that was probably the closest thing to an answer I was going to get. I looked up at the huge trees above us, getting lost in their huge leaves. I wondered if Earth had the potential to look like this.

"What was your biggest annoyance on Earth?"

"Oh dear God, where to begin? Well... The one thing that never fails to piss me off is stupid people." When he gave me a strange look I said, "They just annoy me so _badly_! I've tried to get along with a few stupid people. It didn't work out too well. I would try to explain something and they would just stand there with this... _Stupid_ look on their faces! It's not even actual stupid people that annoy me, it's people that pretend they're stupid! Everyone knows they're smart, but they don't think there's anything to gain by showing it off! Human society has everything so screwed up. They love saying 'Being smart is stupid'. That's something only a stupid person would think to say!"

Ta'kuk's chuckling brought me out of my rant. "I take it you have a strong dislike for stupid people?"

"What was your first clue?" I asked, words dripping with sarcasm.

The game now forgotten, Ta'kuk asked, "It's strange that a human would hate their own species."

"I don't hate _all_ humans, just _most_ of them."

He laughed. "Alright then. Name one human you respect."

"Albert Einstein. He was a very intelligent scientist and was very wise."

"Humans can be wise?"

I grinned, "That's what I thought before I learned that there were once smart people on Earth. But yes, he was wise."

"What makes you think he was so sensible?"

"He once said, and I quote, 'Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.'"

"Yes, I suppose that makes sense. He just forgot to mention all the people who are too stupid to be called geniuses in any sense."

I laughed again and, grinning wide, I told him, "It's not totally their fault. There is a illness known as stupidity and it gets passed down from one generation to the next. It's a growing epidemic. Soon there will be no intelligent life left on Earth."

A screech above our heads had us looking up into the tree canopy above us. Through the huge leaves I could see a giant flying creature. What had they called those creatures again? _Mountain Banshees_? It circled over us for a few moments, then flew off.

Ta'kuk stood and held out a hand towards me, saying, "I wish to show you something. Come with me." I knew I had to be giving him what was probably the weirdest look ever, but I couldn't help it! Just a while ago he hadn't wanted me anywhere near him. We had begun laughing together like old friends and now here he was offering to help me up. What had changed?

I shrugged internally and took his offered hand, letting him pull me up with his warriors strength. He tugged me along gently, but intently none the less. Before leaving I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder carefully, quickly stuffing my book and pencils back into it.

After a while of walking we came to a large cliff edge. There were large vines connecting what appeared to be floating pieces of rock and earth. I remembered that the humans had called them the _Hallelujah Mountains. _No one had really talked to me back at the compound, but when you had nothing to do eavesdropping became a very entertaining way to pass time.

When Ta'kuk let go of my hand I realized that he hadn't let go the entire journey here. I dropped my bag unceremoniously onto the ground by a cluster of trees as he walked towards the edge of the cliff. Another sudden screech had me backing up into the shadows the trees created.

A enormous _Banshee_ landed in front of the Na'vi, stretching out its neck and shaking its head. He patted it and formed the _Tsahaylu _with the beast. I watched on from the shadows as he did this, warily watching the large creature.

He turned and looked at me, tail twitching slightly. "Come with me." He said, "I wish to take you flying."


	8. Do You Know What This Means?

**Sweet baby Jesus! (lol, I'm not even religious!) I have been so busy lately with school work it isn't even funny! Not to mention that every time I go to work on this story someone wants me to do something for them!**

**Christina: Hey Abby.**

**Luna Venatrix: Shhhh! Chrissy! No one knows who I am!**

**Christina: ...Yea, sure. It's not obvious at all...**

**Abby: Well, thanks for blowing my cover! Anyways, I'm planning this story to have five other continuations, so it'll be a six part series. One for each of the main characters and a final one to cap it all off.**

**Christina: Sounds good to me!**

**Abby: What're you doing in my house anyways?**

**Christina: *Nom nom nom* Sorry, what?**

**Abby: I said. What. Are. You. Doing. In. My. House? Hey! Those are my cookies!**

**Christina: I'm the one that gives you all your inspiration! Hey... What're you doing with that medieval flail? Where did you even get one? Wait! NO!**

**Abby: *Chasing Chrissy* Get back here!**

**Ta'kuk: *Walks over* Umm... Abby?**

**Abby: *Chases Chrissy out the door* Ta'kuk! Do the disclaimer and don't forget to tell them about the translations!**

**Ta'kuk: *Mutters* The things I do for you... Abby doesn't own Avatar, all she has are her friends and original characters. And for your information, whenever something has a small number next to it it'll have a translation down at the bottom. Also, beware of strong language use in the coming chapters. Happy reading.**

Ta'kuk's POV

Abby was watching my interaction with my green and orange _Ikran _with wide eyes, hiding back in the shadows. _This is probably one of the only times I've ever actually seen her nervous about something, _I mused to myself.

My _Ikran_, sensing my amusement, flapped its large wings and tossed its head. It looked around and spotted the redhead among the trees. I could feel its distress towards her as if it were my own. I soothed it though the bond, silently assuring the beast.

When I turned to regard the female behind me I realized that, while I'd had my back turned, she had inched forward slowly and now stood just a few feet away. I was surprised that I hadn't heard her move, especially seeing how close she was to me.

She watched the giant creature with a mixture of intrigue and wariness, slowly tilting her head from side to side. Biting her lip, she moved closer again but froze when the _Ikran_ snorted. It watched her carefully as she reached towards it, palm facing upwards.

It sniffed at her hand before gently nudging at it with its head. As the human girl smiled I couldn't help but feel proud. She had so quickly gained the trust of a creature even some Na'vi had trouble controlling.

As she stroked the massive animals head and neck she murmured quiet, soothing words to it. The _Ikran_ soon settled, leaning into her lightly so as not to knock her over.

I found myself amazed at how she handled animals with such ease. Every creature she'd come into contact with seemed to like her, any and all feelings of distress being replaced with trust. As I watched her I realized that she had also affected me, too.

I had always distrusted humans, had always thought of them as invaders that should be destroyed at all costs. But not her. She was different than those that had tried to savagely kill my people. She was not only brave, but kind. She was a healer for the humans, but she had also taken care of what was supposed to be an enemy. She didn't care that we were different, or that we came from different worlds. She saw us as equals, creatures just like the humans themselves.

Looking at it from her perspective, she should have hated us. We had killed humans, and even if it was in self defense they were still dead. She must've been taught to fear us, to hate us, but she didn't. She judged every creature as its own being, not as a group.

Her compassion had made me curious, which in turn had lead to me learning that not all humans were the killers like my people had thought they were. Some, even though they had nothing to do with the original attack, felt bad about what had been done to us, wanted to help us. Abby had nothing to gain by being here, but here she was, wanting to learn about my people and my world.

"Eww! Gross!" Abby laughed as the _Ikran _licked her face. She grinned and crinkled her nose, wiping her cheek.

"So?" She said, looking up at me, "Are we going flying or what?"

_Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu._**1** I don't know where the thought came from, but there it was. I had never given a nickname to anyone. They were who they were, nothing more, nothing less. Not only that, but I had never, _ever_, referred to anyone as _my_ anything!

Pushing those thoughts away, I pulled myself up onto my _Ikran_. I offered her my hand and she took it, carefully swinging her leg over the giant beast to sit in front of me. The creature snorted and stretched its wings, tossing its head back and forth.

I thought the word _fly_ and the _Ikran_ took off with a small screech. I gripped the reins tightly, feeling proud when Abby's face split into a heart melting smile.

"This is amazing!" She called over the rush of the wind, gripping the _Ikran's_ neck tightly.

"Would you like to try flying him?" I asked close to her ear.

She turned her head and looked up at me, asking, "Really? I would love it!"

Reaching up and gently wrapping her hands around the reins, she took control, guiding the _Ikran_ with a steady hand.

I watched her as she carefully flew the skies of Pandora, studding her silently. I had never noticed how small her hands were, mine easily dwarfing hers. Her fingers were long and slender, tipped with blunt nails, but I had a feeling they could do some serious damage if she wanted them to.

Her skin was very pale, standing out starkly even when compared to her friends. As I looked closer I began to notice small red marks that covered her shoulders and the bridge of her nose. What did humans call them again? Oh yea, they referred to them as freckles. One in particular caught my attention. It was situated below her left eye and looked like a small tear drop. It interested me.

Her long, dark red hair fell around her shoulders in loose waves before it settled at her mid back. The colour accented her dark emerald eyes which were fringed with long dark lashes. Eyes that sparkled when she was interested in something, when she focused deeply, or when she smiled.

Dear Eywa! I was becoming soft towards humans!

"What's that?"

Her question caught me by surprise. I looked over her shoulder, focusing on a small silhouette situated on a large chunk of floating rock. As we flew closer I knew it must be a human, seeing how small it was.

"No! Something's not right with this!" I heard her mutter under her breath as the _Ikran_ flew ever closer.

I watched on silently as she gasped in horror. Below a large _Ikran_ attacked the man, slashing and biting.

"We have to get down there! It'll kill him!" She said as she guided the flying beast towards the battle below.

"Don't even think about it!" I growled, attempting to take back the reins. Just as I took them from her she slid from the creature, landing on her hands and feet beneath.

"Abby! Get back here!" I called after her as she ran towards the distressed human.

I watched on as I landed my _Ikran_, panicking when she threw her arms out to protect the man. The other _Ikran_ carefully backed up, breathing heavily.

As I stalked over to the redhead I heard her murmuring to the animal, even as she bent to check the mans injuries.

"Must you insist on getting yourself into dangerous situations every time you go anywhere?" I asked, glaring down at the human who had now passed out with distaste.

"Yes." Her answer was followed by a short giggle as she pressed her hand against a heavily bleeding wound.

A short screech had both of us whipping our heads around to look at the _Ikran_ behind us. It let out another bellow as it slashed out.

Abby's POV

I tucked and rolled to the side to avoid the blue and black _Banshee's _claws as it struck out. I braced myself in case of another attack, glancing around to find Ta'kuk crouched close to the ground and hissing at the beast.

As he was reaching for the bow that was strung across his back I shook my head and cried, "No! Don't!"

He looked at me and narrowed his eyes, arms still raised to grab his weapon.

"Don't." I repeated, standing slowly. "It's_ just_ scared."

I heard him mutter something to himself, but other than that he made no move towards the beast.

"It's alright." I spoke softly to the animal and stood, watching it carefully as it tensed at my movement. "There's nothing to fear."

It cocked its head to the side, slowly relaxing as I drew closer. I ran my hand over its head, smiling as it leaned into my palm.

I felt him approaching cautiously even before I'd heard him. I turned to see Ta'kuk glaring at me.

"What?" I asked, grinning even as I tried not to laugh.

"Do you have any idea how stupid that was? Most Na'vi don't even try to stop an attacking _Ikran_!"

"That's all well and fine, but I'm not most Na'vi in case you hadn't noticed."

"Did you just assume that this creature wouldn't attack you?"

"Mostly. Yes."

He shook his head at me, raising an eyebrow as he did so. I laughed and said, "Two calmed in one day. Abby is happy with this."

A shrill ringing interrupted our argument. I looked over at the man and raised an eyebrow. Who knew Pandora had cellphone reception?

I knelt down and grabbed the small silver phone out of his pocket, flipping it open.

"Umm... Hello?" I asked, cradling the phone to my ear.

"_Abby? Is that you?"_ A voice asked from the other line.

"Sure is! One question though. Who are you and how do you know my name?" I said, shrugging my shoulders when Ta'kuk gave me a 'Why-would-you-even-bother-answering-it-if-you-had-no-idea-who-it-could-be?' look.

"_Do you normally just answer phones you randomly see laying around?"_

"Perhaps. Depends on who this is though." I said, sitting on the ground and crossing my legs.

"_It's Keeana you dumb fuck!"_

"Then yes. Yes I do. Why do you have a phone here anyways?"

"_Well!"_ She said, drawing the word out dramatically. "_I was snooping though some army bags I found laying as well as a list of emergency contacts, so I decided to take it upon myself to prank call every number on the list."_

"Seriously? You have nothing better to do with your time?"

"_Nope!"_ I could almost _hear_ her grinning on the other end. "_But while we're already talking, is Ta'kuk there with you... Wherever _you _are?"_

I glanced over my shoulder to look at Ta'kuk. He was pacing behind me, arms crossed over his chest and tail swishing. _Funny,_ I thought quietly as I watched him,_ I never noticed how much jewelry he wears. Although, I have to admit, those arm bands really show off his biceps..._

"_Abby? Are you still there?"_

"Yup! Totally here!" I said, blushing as I turned my head. "Totally got distracted by something though."

"_Remember Abby, sharing is caring! Tell me!"_ Keeana demanded, previous conversation long forgotten.

I heard someone hiss something to her quietly, making her sober up.

"_Anyways, as I was saying before you so _rudely_ distracted me, is Ta'kuk there or not?"_

"Yes, he's here. Why. what's up?" I heard Ta'kuk stop pacing as he listened intently to my conversation.

"_Kin'ta wants you to tell him... Hold on." _I could hear her covering the receiver with her hand even as she said_, "What was it again?" _Someone, who I now assumed was Kin'ta, said something to her._ "Right," _Keeana removed her hand from the phone and said,_ "He wants you to tell him 'Ayoe tikin nga fte nong nin nemfa o tawtute tspangs._2_' Whatever that means..."_

"Alright... I'll tell him... I think..." I said, hesitating as I tried to remember exactly what Keeana had said.

"_Are you sure you got that?"_

"No. But I'll do what I can."

"_Okay, I guess I'll see you whenever you get back. I love you my love!"_

"Aww! I love you too! Bye!" I rolled my eyes as I hung up. All of my friends were like sisters to me, but Keeana and I had a long running joke between us. One of her ex's had just dumped her, so I told her she was too good for them. When she stayed upset I told her I would be her new love because no one else would ever be good enough for her. Shortly after, whenever one of us was feeling upset or worried, we would tease each other.

The _Banshee_ at my side snorted and brushed its face up against me, making me smile. I was always amazed at how trusting the creatures on Pandora were. After everything that had been done, everything that had been destroyed, they were still willing to move on and accept that not everyone was the same.

_Kind of like a certain Na'vi we know?_ My mind whispered to me.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to face the afore mentioned Na'vi. He wasn't looking at me, instead facing his own _Banshee._

"Ta'kuk." He looked over at me but kept silent. "Kin'ta wanted me to tell you something."

When he still said nothing I bit my lip lightly. "He says, and I quote, 'Ayoe tikin nga fte nong nin nemfa o tawtute tspangs.2' Unquote."

He looked surprised for a moment, then said, "Do you have any idea what this means?"

I watched him for a second, then cocked my head to the side and said, "Absolutely... Not." When he glared at me I grinned and laughed.

"It means we have to leave. Now." He said as he turned and mounted his _Banshee_.

"Wow." I said raising an eyebrow, "You're just a constant pessimist, aren't you?"

Without a word, he offered his hand. I took it gently and let him pull me up onto the large creature. With a short screech, the _Banshee _dove off the side of the cliff.

**Yaay! It's done! Sorry it took me so long, hopefully my next update will be quicker!**

**Christina: I'll say! The suspense was killing me!**

**Abby: I know, I know! But don't you love how I left off with a _cliff_hanger!**

**Chrissy: ... Abbs, there is a reason nerds don't make jokes... You should keep it that way...**

**Abby: *Talking to random stranger* Yea, it's been really hard on her. The dad left and she now has to take care of the baby all alone.**

**Chrissy: Shut up Abby! It's a fake baby for my family studies class!**

**Abby: *Talking to another random stranger* She's taking her boyfriends death really hard. I can't even imagine how hard raising his child must be for her...**

**Chrissy: ABBY! It's not real! It's a freaking asian baby! I'm white! *Starts shaking baby***

**Abby: Oh my god! That lady is shaking that poor baby! She's gonna kill it!**

**Chrissy: ... Okay, okay! No more nerd jokes...**

**Abby: Thank you! Now for the translations!**

**My little warrior**

**2) We need you to go look into some human killings.**

**Rate and review! Oh, and did I ask you to review? Yes? Well, I'll say it a third time just in case, review! 3 Thanks guys!**


	9. This Explains Everything!

**Abby: Hooray for updates! Sorry it's been so long guys! I have been soooooo busy with exams, dance recitals, band recitals, choir recitals, and all that crap! Anyways, this chapter is going to be based around my past with Turner and why I hate him so much, and what Ta'kuk thinks about all of this! Won't it be fun?**

**Salynna: Abby! Help!**

**Abby: Gah! What?**

**Salynna: I'm trying to figure something out, but I can't do it!**

**Abby: Why? What're you thinking about?**

**Salynna: How do people get eaten by sharks?**

**Abby: Umm... Isn't it obvious? They open their mouths and go munch, munch, munch. **

**Salynna: Yea. I understand that! But how do people not hear the music?**

**Abby: *Face palm* ...Wow... Anyways. Onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I own exactly 0% of Avatar. But just you wait! It'll happen one day!**

**Salynna: And she thinks I'm dumb...**

**Abby: SHUT UP!**

Abby's POV

We landed back at the edge of the forest a little while later. I glanced around as I slid off the massive animal, spotting my bag sitting at the bottom of the tree where I'd left it.

"I'll return. Wait here, and..." I turned to look at Ta'kuk, who was now glaring at me, "Don't do anything stupid!"

"Me?" I asked, feigning innocence, "Do something stupid? Never!"

He muttered something, shaking his head. With a snort, the _Banshee_ took off again, leaving me alone on the edge of the cliff. I sighed and looked around.

_Now what?_ I wondered idly,_ If I can't get into trouble, what can I do?_

A rustling sound caught my attention. I tuned to regard the forest behind me, biting my lower lip.

"Hello?" I called lightly, turning to glance over my other shoulder.

_Yea, Abby._ I thought sarcastically to myself, '_Cause a person that is trying to kill and or maim you is totally going to answer when you ask 'Who's there?' like a freaking eight year old!_

I shook my head and pressed my fingers to my temples, trying in vain to fend off the impending headache that was growing there.

The rustling stopped suddenly, making me stiffen. When it started up again, I didn't bother to look over my shoulder. I relaxed my shoulders and arms, but kept my legs strong.

I could hear something approaching me from behind, but I still did nothing. When the thing grasped my shoulder, I reached around and grabbed it's upper arm. Gripping it tightly, I pulled down, throwing my attacker over my shoulder so they landed on the ground with a thud.

"Woah! Calm down Abbs! It's just me!" I recognized the voice, but not the person. It was a Na'vi, but I could tell that something about him was off. I inspected the male as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head as he did so. At first all I could think about was the fact that Ta'kuk was going to kill me for attacking one of his people, but the thoughts soon faded away.

As I looked at him, I realized that he was wearing human attire, meaning he wasn't a true Na'vi. _Well,_ I thought,_ At least that narrows down the options. Let's see. How many guys do I know that are here on Pandora with me?_

As the thought drifted though my mind, I froze.

"Turner?" I asked, jaw dropped. "Please tell me I'm wrong!"

The male on the ground chuckled and said, "Sorry Abbs! Why bother asking? You and I both know that you're never wrong about this sort of thing."

"I can hope can't I?" I said, turned away and muttered, "I should've tossed him harder, maybe caused some brain damage. Or fixed some of the brain damage that was already there."

"I heard that you know!" I flinched at his words, more out of surprise than guilt. _Note to self, he now has the same hearing abilities as a regular Na'vi._

"Come on Abby! Why do you hate me so much! What'd I ever do to you?" He asked, throwing his hands up in defeat.

I sighed and said, "It's not you it's... Well it is you but... I mean... Umm..." I sighed again and sat on the ground, pulling my knees up to my chest. "It's complicated."

Turner snorted and shook his head, stating, "I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

"That's the problem!" I growled, shooting him a withering glare, "You think you can handle it, but you can't! I told you several times what the problem was, but you never listened! You just kept ignoring what I said so that you wouldn't have to deal with the harsh reality of what I was telling you!"

"That is completely untrue!" He snarled back, baring his new, sharp teeth at me.

"No! It is true! You just don't want to believe it!"

"You can't blame me for everything that happened!"

"Yes I can! It was completely and totally your fault!"

"Everything was fine until you began freaking out over nothing in particular!"

"It wasn't fine!" I was almost shrieking now, the pent up anger I felt getting the better of me. "You kept pushing for something that wasn't, and would never be, there! Everything was perfect, until _you_ decided that it wasn't enough anymore!"

"How can you blame me? You and I both knew that there was something more between us, but _you_ were too_ scared_ to admit it to yourself or give me a chance!"

"I wasn't ready for more! I was fine with our friendship just the way it was!"

"If you weren't ready then, when were you going to be ready?"

"My dad had just died a few days before you asked me! What was I supposed to say?"

"You were supposed to give me a chance to prove that I could be a good man for you!"

I opened my mouth to respond, but couldn't find the words I needed.

"You know," Turner said suddenly, "You could still give me that chance."

"No! Absolutely not!" I cried, standing suddenly and walking away.

"Oh come on, Abbs! You can't run from people forever!" He said, getting up and following me.

"I'm not running from people, I'm running from _you_!"

He gripped my wrist and spun me around, asking, "Why? Why run from me?"

I shook my head in answer, trying to pull my wrist free even as I felt tears prickling the back of my eyes.

"Abby. An explanation is the least you can give me, you know."

I looked up at him, inspecting his new features. He reminded me of every other Na'vi, save for his eyes. I suddenly found myself comparing his eyes to Ta'kuk's.

Turners eyes were a beautiful dark hazel colour, filled with confidence and human arrogance. And yet, that somehow made me feel comforted, made me feel that everything was okay and that, even though he no longer looked human, he still was. He wouldn't judge me for having human weaknesses, seeing as though he had them as well.

Ta'kuk's eyes, however, were a brilliant gold colour. They captured and held my attention whenever he looked at me. They held an air of intelligence and authority, making him seem every bit the hunter and leader he was. He was stern and wasn't afraid to tell me exactly what was on his mind. I knew it was hard for him to accept me, but I felt as if we were becoming closer.

I shook my head. Thinking about both of my Na'vi boys was giving me an even worse headache. _Well,_ I thought biting my lip again,_ My one Na'vi friend and my Avatar friend that wants to be so much more than just a friend... Wait a second!_

"Turner!" I said, my jaw dropping again, "How in the hell did you get an Avatar?"

He chuckled and bend down, making sure we were eye level. "When I heard that a certain someone was going to travel to Pandora, I decided that purchasing an Avatar might be a good way to get back into her good book. I figured that, instead of you trying to convince an actual Na'vi to let you study them, you could just study me."

"Are you for real?" I asked, feeling a cheshire grin spreading across my face.

"Of course. I would do anything to make you happy, even if it is a tad expensive. So," He said, drawing himself up to his full height, "Would you now give me an explanation?"

"I don't know. It's hard to explain."

He glared at me and said, "It can't possibly be that difficult! Was it because of my appearance?"

"No! I'm not shallow you know! I don't care about that sort of thing!" I said, feeling extremely offended.

"Well then, if that's not the case, what is it then?"

I sighed and looked around, trying to find the words I had so desperately tried to hide. "You were my best friend." I began, not daring to look up at him, "I didn't want things to become awkward between us if it didn't work. But when you just kept pushing me for more, I didn't know what to do! My dad had just died and I didn't want to do something that either you or I would regret later. When you still didn't give up, I had to avoid you. I couldn't bare to tell you that I wasn't interested."

"That was back then though!" He protested suddenly, "You and I are both different people now, and you didn't give me a fair shot back then. All I'm asking you for is a chance to prove that I can be a good match for you. I want to show you that I can protect and provide for you, that you can trust me and I can be whatever you need. Just give me this one chance."

Ta'kuk's POV

I pushed my _Ikran_ to go faster. I knew that Abby would probably be fine on her own, but I couldn't help but worry.

_Eywa only knows what she's gotten herself into by now._ I thought sullenly as the air whistled past.

Glancing behind me I could see Kin'ta following close behind along with Keeana, who had her arms wrapped around his torso.

I looked back at the ground, watching carefully for the redhead I had left just a little while ago. I finally spotted her standing right where I'd left her, which surprised me greatly.

The _Ikran_ landed gracefully on the ground, shaking its head lightly as it did so.

She turned to glance over her shoulder when she heard me land, smiling as she did so. "There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come back." She said, nodding towards Keeana and Kin'ta as they landed.

"Abby!" A Na'vi suddenly leapt down from the tree she was standing in front of, making her turn and raise an eyebrow in their direction. I crouched into a defensive position, hissing at the unknown male. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kin'ta blocking Keeana from the stranger, teeth bared in an aggression.

"What?" Her tone was clipped and dismissive.

The stranger narrowed his eyes in my direction, then turned to face the woman in front of him. He handed her a small orange and yellow flower that opened up at her touch, making her smile again.

"Now will you give me an answer?" He asked her huffily, crossing his arms over his chest.

She laughed lightly, turning the flower over in her hands gently before saying, "I don't know. I suppose it depends on how much I can convince you to do before I give you my answer."

"You, my dear," he said, shaking his head, "Are an extortionist."

"No way!" Keeana suddenly said, stepping around Kin'ta. She walked forward to stand next to Abby, mouth agape. "It can't possibly be _you!_ Please tell me I'm wrong!"

The healer laughed, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear before saying, "That's what I said when I first saw him to!"

"Explain." I commanded, narrowing my eyes towards the unknown male.

Abby grinned and looked back at me before saying, "You remember Turner, right?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. The person she was referring to was scrawny and, overall, not a very good ambassador for the human race. _Dreamwalker._ I thought sullenly, glowering at the human-turned-Na'vi.

She turned back and began talking to him again, but I had completely tuned out. It seemed obvious to me that they had been talking for a while, but what had they talked about? He'd mentioned something about waiting for an answer. What had he asked her?

I felt a sudden swell of rage as he placed an arm around the redhead's waist, which increased when she did nothing to dissuade him. It was becoming more and more clear to me that she was attracted to the fake.

I probably should've taken it as a compliment that she was more attracted to the Na'vi than her own kind, but just knowing that the one she was falling for wasn't a true Na'vi made my blood boil.

_Not that it matters._ I told myself, _Why should the opinion of a human female matter? _I desperately wanted to believe what I was telling myself, but it wasn't working.

Turning to Kin'ta, I said, "We need to leave. Abby," I called out to the girl, making her turn to face me, "Come. We will take you back to Home Tree."

"Don't worry about it!" Turner said, tugging the taller girl closer to him. "I'll take both of them back with me."

I didn't want to say yes, but I really had no choice. I couldn't let Kin'ta believe I was becoming weak towards the girl and we really needed to look into the deaths in the area, but I still didn't want the dreamwalker anywhere near her.

With a sharp nod, I mounted my _Ikran_, waiting for Kin'ta to do the same. When he followed suit, we both took off without a word, leaving the humans behind.

**Aaaaaaaand, that's it! Yay!**

**Abby: Hopefully the next chapter will be more entertaining!**

**Alayna: You are so lucky! Did you see the way Ta'kuk was looking at you? He likes you! I'm sure of it!**

**Abby:...**

**Ta'kuk:...**

**Alayna: What? What'd I say?**

**Abby: I thought that it was kind of obvious, but if you just found that out now, that's okay to. Anyways, if you don't like Turner now, you are gonna absolutely hate him in the future! **

**Ta'kuk: I don't think it's possible for me to hate him more than I already do. What could either of you do to make this worse?**

**Abby: Well, I'm kinda stuck between you and Turner now. I'm not fully sure which way I want this story to swing, but I'll figure it out sooner or later.**

**Ta'kuk: *Eye twitch***

**Alayna: Abby, you liar! I know who you're gonna pick! You are definitely going to surprise some people when you pick T-**

**Abby: *Slaps hand over Alayna's mouth* Shhhh! It's a surprise! You can't tell! Ever!**

**Alayna: Fine! I still think everyone will be really surprised by the _person_ you pick.**

**Abby: No hints either!**

**Ta'kuk: What was that?**

**Abby: NOTHING! Well, that's it for now, I'll update again soon! Oh my gosh!**

**Alayna: What? What is it?**

**Abby: There's a button!**

**Alayna: Where?**

**Abby: At the bottom of the screen! It's a big blue button!**

**Alayna: Yea, I see it. What about it?**

**Abby: It says 'Review' on it. My readers should click it!**

**Alayna: Why?**

**Abby: Cause it might open a magic portal that leads to Pandora! No promises though.**

**Alayna: Well, I guess you're right. Everyone shoud click the pretty button. It is a very nice blue colour after all!**

**Abby: See you guys soon! Thanks!**


	10. Memories of Times Gone By

**Abby: Hi guys! Thank god for summer vacation! Except for the fact that my inspiration is at camp for the next six weeks and I'm stuck working from 8 - 4:30 in a daycare full of rotten little children! Well, they aren't too bad. Except for the one that gave me strep throat... Oh well, I actually really like the kids, I just hate getting up early!**

**Salynna: Good god, Abby! I don't know what I'm doing! *Starts hyperventilating***

**Abby: What's wrong now? Schools over, there can't possibly be anything wrong!**

**Salynna: Easy for you to say! You are a freaking genius! I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail!**

**Abby: What're you talking about?**

**Salynna: Summer school, duh! I'm taking English, science and pre-cal! I'm dying! You've gotta help me! Please!**

**Abby: *Sigh* FIne, I'll do what I can to help. But, before I go, I wanna thank a few people. Thank you to:**

**PhoenyxWarrior: Thanks so much for reviewing my story! I agree, the last chapter was a bit of a filler, but there is gonna be a lot more interesting stuff coming up! There are only a few chapters left in this story, so things are gonna be moving really fast from here on in!**

**Lucas Bane: Thank you for reviewing as well! I really appreciate all the feed back from people like you and your positive comments make me want to continue writing!**

**And finally, thanks to the following people for adding my story to their**

**favourites / story alerts lists: Lucarby, rangergilan, mercenarybunny**, **diana22sam02, itswafflesbeach.**

**Thanks again!**

**Salynna: ARE YOU DONE YET! KINDA NEED HELP OVER HERE!**

**Abby: I'm coming! Jeez!**

Alayna's POV

Flinging a lock of my black hair behind my shoulder and sighing, I looked out over the extensive forest, waiting for Abby and Keeana to return.

The Na'vi Abby had been staying with, Ta-something-or-other, had stormed in just a little while ago, yelling at others in his native language. He had left again quickly, Kin'ta and Keeana following him.

Neither of my sisters had come back yet. I knew they were okay, they had to be. I didn't know what I'd do without either of them.

Keeana was the sister I always went to whenever I had a problem with anyone. I could remember one time in particular. My boyfriend and I had broken up the day before, so I had been very upset. I walked into my school next day only to find him kissing his new girlfriend. The new girlfriend that he had fallen in love with two weeks after _we_ had started dating.

When I asked him why he had dated me if he didn't truly like me, he said, '_I kinda felt bad for you because I knew that if I didn't date you, no one would ever give you a chance.'_

I had left immediately after he'd said this and called Keeana to find some sisterly support. She didn't say anything on the matter other than, _'I'll see you in a couple of minutes.' _

When she showed up at my door a few minutes later her fists were covered in blood. I think it's safe to say that I was shocked. I began panicking, thinking it was her own blood. My shock only worsened when she told me that it was my ex's blood.

She explained that she had gone to the school to find my ex and his new girlfriend still kissing. She shoved them apart and ended up punching both of them in the face quite a few times. She'd left the building before anyone realized what had happened.

Keeana and I had gotten much closer after the incident, talking more often and supporting each other when needed.

Abby was also a very important sister to me. She was kinda the glue that held the entire group of us girls together.

She and I met in our gymnastics class when we were younger and quickly became the best of friends. However, shortly after the class was shut down because the director had been in a car accident that had left her paralyzed and there was no one willing to take over for her.

She and I didn't meet again until the ninth grade. We were in the same class and quickly got to know each other again. I've never been the brightest when it came to school work, but Abby was a fucking genius! She had an answer for every question in every subject, never failing to impress her teachers.

Most often, I've found that when a person is smart, they tend to think themselves better than others. Abby was different though. She didn't brag about being smart, she just accepted that she was and moved on. Not many people liked her back on Earth because they were either jealous or they thought being smart was for losers. That said, the friends she did have were always complimenting her on her intelligence.

I remember this one time when she and I were assigned a science project where we had to make up a story explaining how the universe was created. Thank god she and I were partners 'cause I'm sure I would've fucking failed that project.

I'm not naive, I know I'm not that smart. I also knew that it wasn't fair to leave Abby with all the work, so I kept my mouth shut and tried my best to come up with something. Lets just say I failed miserably.

I knew that Abby had me figured out when she gave me a small knowing smile. A few minutes later she handed me a sheet of paper. They weren't proper sentences, which made me ask, '_What am I supposed to do with this?'_

She laughed and said, '_I know that you are a fantastic singer, so I figured we could base our project around a song. I wrote down a story, as well as a description and those lyrics. All you need to do is write some music that fits with them, then record the song.'_

Needless to say the project went really well, resulting in both of us getting a perfect grade on it. Ever since Abby and I had teamed up on projects. I did any creative aspects and she would do all the writing and research.

We became the best of friends afterwards, always chatting and laughing together. At least, we did for a while.

After her dad had died, Abby wouldn't talk to anyone. She never came out of her room, not even when her mother begged her to. She didn't even eat or sleep, just sat there, in the middle of her bed, looking at the walls of her room with a glazed look in her eyes.

Back then, none of us knew each other. Sure, we all knew Abby, but that was it. We all ended up going to her house by accident one day, all of us wanting to try to help her. We sat there and talked to her and with each other, but nothing we did seemed to get through to her. It was almost like she couldn't even hear us.

Suddenly, she curled up on her side and closed her eyes. At first all of us were worried that she had killed herself from lack of sleep, as well as starvation and dehydration, but she was breathing normally, so we all just sat around and talked.

About ten minutes later, she woke up screaming. She was shaking all over and screeching. I don't think any of us had ever heard something so scary. It sounded like she was being either tortured or murdered!

Luckily, her mother and sister weren't in the house when it happened. I can only imagine what it would've done to both of them. They had already lost a husband and a father, and now the youngest family member had hopped on a one way train to insanity.

I tried shaking her even as the other girls screamed. She didn't stop until Keeana hauled off and smacked her across the face. Afterwards, she just sat there with wide eyes, crying silently.

It took about an hour, but we finally persuaded her to tell us what was going on. It turns out, she was a psychic! She had stopped sleeping because of all the terrible visions she saw as she slept.

She explained that, when she was younger, she'd had a near death experience, although she wouldn't tell any of us what exactly had happened. She had been seeing spirits for years, but after her father's death, they just wouldn't leave her alone.

After telling us what was going on, she seemed somewhat relieved, almost like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She began acting normally again, much to everyones relief.

As far as I know, the spirits never left her. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that they were the reason she accepted the invitation to come to Pandora, or, at the least, they were part of the reason.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as I heard voices coming closer. I looked up to see Abby and Keeana walking with a strange Na'vi that I'd never seen before.

I stood as I smiled and waved at them. Abby and Keeana carefully climbed the tree before sitting down next to me on the large limb I was perched on.

"So," Keeana said, resting her chin in her hand, "What's knew with you?"

"Nothing." I said, shaking my head, "Just thinking about old memories."

"Uh oh," I heard Abby mutter under her breath, "That can't possibly be a good thing."

I stuck my tongue out at her childishly and smiled again, turning to face Keeana. "Well," I asked, looking at her impatiently.

"Well, what?" She replied, raising both of her eyebrows.

"Who's that?" I asked, gesturing to the Na'vi that was standing on the ground, staring up at us.

Keeana burst into laughter even as Abby hid her face in her hands. "That would be Turner, Alayna." Keeana said, making the girl on my other side turn bright red.

I turned to Abby, mouth open and slapped her shoulder before saying, "Damn girl! You are just attracting all the boys lately, aren't you?"

"Shut it!" Was the only response I got from her.

"Shut what?" The question came from Salynna, who had just pulled herself up onto the branch behind us.

"Alayna's big fat mouth." Abby said, glaring at me.

I placed and hand over my heart and dramatically said, "Oh, you wound me so!" Before Abby could say anything else I told Salynna, "Oh, and the Na'vi down there is Turner in another desperate attempt to gain Abby's undying love!"

"Shut up!" Abby yelled, blushing again.

"Oh my god! Abby! Whatever happened to sharing the guys, huh?" Salynna said sarcastically, grinning at the redheads obvious discomfort.

"Salynna," The embarrassed girl said, turning to look at her, "You are one of the four friends that are more like family than anything else. So, when I say what I'm about to say, please take it in the best manner possible." She paused for a moment before smiling and saying, "Skank!"

Salynna gasped and sarcastically said, "You are so mean! You heartless bitch!"

I smiled at this. They often went back and forth like this, taking shots at each other. They never meant any real harm, it was more of a joke between friends, so they just brushed off what the other person said.

"Yea? Well, you're a dirty blonde!"

"I guess that makes you a kinky redhead!"

"You're gonna pay for that one you cunt!"

"Like hell, freak!"

"If I'm a freak, I guess that makes you a slut!"

"Oh, please! Whatever you... Overly smart person you!"

We all laughed at Salynna's horrible comeback. I leaned back too far and had to grip the branch below me to keep from falling out of the tree, which only made everyone laugh harder.

"Hey," Keeana said as we all calmed down, "Where's Chrissy?"

"Umm, I think she said something about translations the last time I saw her." Salynna said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

This didn't surprise me at all. All the girls in the group had a special ability of their own. Abby's was her intelligence, strategizing, and accuracy when using a bow and arrow, as well as her psychic abilities, Keeana's was her no-fear attitude and her ability to fire any type of firearm. Salynna's was her ability to spy on people, make them admit things that they normally wouldn't, not to mention the fact that she was pretty good with a short staff, mine was my flexibility, vocals, and training in hand-to-hand combat. Christina's ability was something that I've never seen before. She had the ability to understand _any_ language just by listening to it once. She understood several languages, Latin, English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and now Na'vi just to name a few. She was also good when it came to wielding any kind of knife or sword.

"Abby?" Salynna asked, pulling me away from my thoughts again.

The girl next to me was looking at some of the lower branches of the tree carefully, almost as if she was trying to gauge something.

I waved my hand in front of her face, pulling back and jumping slightly when she said, "What?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "You have_ that_ look on your face."

"Look? What look?" She asked, never glancing away from the lower branches.

"The one on your face right now." Keeana said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't have a look." Abby denied, biting her lower lip.

"You do too." I said, shaking my head, "I don't know who or what's bothering you, but you should probably go check it out. Especially if it's holding your attention for this long."

She glanced up at me sheepishly before nodding and gradually making her decent down the tree. She smiled when she reached the bottom, then began walking away into the forest.

I shook my head. I would never fully understand her, but I still worried about her and her sanity. Especially after everything that had happened between she and her sister before Abby came to Pandora.

I sighed and stretched before turning to look at Keeana and Salynna. "So," I said, grinning, "Who do you wanna bet on? Turner or Ta'kuk?"

**Abby: And thus, this chapter is done! Sorry again that it took so long! Hopefully the next update will be soon, but I'm not making any promises! *Cellphone begins ringing* Hello?**

**Chrissy: Abby! UPDATE!**

**Abby: How the hell did you hear what I said? You're on a six week camping trip in Alberta!**

**Chrissy: First of all, I know everything. Secondly, I'm not camping. I'm doing my survival training course in cadets. And thirdly, you won't let me see the chapters until you're done writing them, so _I_ don't even know what the hell you're doing! And I'm in the freaking story!**

**Abby: Well, have fun waiting for even longer then!**

**Chrissy: What makes you say that?**

**Abby: You just left, right?**

**Chrissy: Yea.**

**Abby: And you're gonna be gone for six weeks, right?**

**Chrissy: What's your point?**

**Abby: You're in a forest with no internet connection. Therefore, you can't read the chapter till you get back six weeks from now! Muhahahah!**

**Chrissy: BITCH!**

**Abby: Have fun! Anyways, rate and review! If you do I'll give you cookies! PLEASE! See you soon and thanks for reading!**

**Chrissy: You know you can't actually see them, right?**

**Abby: Shut it blondie!**


	11. Do You Even Know Where We Are?

**Abby: I'm back!**

**Alayna: You left?**

**Abby: Not exactly... but who cares about the little details?!**

**Alayna: Very specific people.**

**Abby:... Remind me again why we're friends... Anywho, I'd like to thank a few people and respond to any comments or questions before the story begins, so here we go!**

**PhoenyxWarrior: I would agree, it would've sounded cooler if I'd explained everything during a fight scene. There is a reason I didn't, so you're just gonna have to keep reading to find out why! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Autobot-Bre: You have no idea how happy you made me by reviewing! Thanks so much and I hope you like the rest of the chapters just as much as the last one!**

**And thanks to the following people for adding me to their Story Alert/ Favourites list: Autobot-Bre, Lucarby, PhoenyxWarrior, rangergilan, diana22sam02, itswafflesbeach, Lucas Bane, and mercenarybunny. Thanks so much to everybody!**

**Keeana: Shut it nerdy and get on with the story!**

**Abby: Impatient much?**

**Keeana: I need to know what happens! You're so mean! You haven't even told _me_ what's going on!**

**Abby: Okay, okay! Here we go!**

Abby's POV

I took a deep breath and pushed my shoulders back, doing my best to suppress the fear I felt.

_How did this happen? I thought I'd gotten away from all of this when I left Earth! What the hell?_

I pushed my thunderous thoughts to the back of my head and continued on, following the familiar man.

Sitting in the tree with my sisters, I hadn't realized who he was. The only thing I could tell was that he was dead, seeing as though no one else reacted to him, not to mention the fact that there was no way in _hell_ they would let another human wander around without supervision.

My sisters and I seemed to be the only humans that were allowed to walk around without someone following us constantly.

When I'd finally managed to climb out of the tree and drop to the ground safely I turned to face my 'guest'. When I saw who he was, I almost had a heart attack.

_Man-whore! _I found myself wanting to ask how he'd died, but I held my tongue. The last thing I needed to do was invite him in, thus allowing others to enter my mind as well.

I followed him, silently praying Ta'kuk wouldn't see me before I came back. I bit my lip, but kept walking.

"Abby!" I clamped my hand over my mouth, barely holding back a shriek of surprise. I glanced over my shoulder, my knees almost buckling when I saw who it was.

"Turner! What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, keeping the dead man in my peripheral vision.

"I watched you walking into the forest and thought I'd accompany you." He said nonchalantly, brushing an invisible piece of lint from his shoulder.

I narrowed my eyes at him, calculating the chances of his words being true. "I don't believe that." I said, rolling my eyes, "It's more like you saw me walking and thought that this would be the perfect time to win me over with your charms and good looks without fearing one of my sisters catching you."

I snorted when I heard him mutter, "Damn."

I turned to follow the spirit again when he grabbed my shoulder, turning me around to look at him again.

I glared pointedly at his hand before saying, "Off."

He removed his hand before saying, "You know, I would feel like the worlds luckiest man if you would just talk to me."

I raised an eyebrow at him and simply stated, "You should feel lucky now, considering I came this close," I pinched my thumb and forefinger together until they were half an inch apart, "To shoving your nose into your brain with the heel of my palm."

His eyes widened, but he said nothing more. I crossed my arms over my chest, beginning to walk behind the ghost again.

"Wait up, Abbs!" I heard Turner call.

"If you wanna talk to me, you're gonna have to start walking faster." I shot over my shoulder, never slowing.

"Aww, come on!" He said, falling into stride next to me, "What do I have to do? You already said you'd give me another chance!"

"I am giving you another chance."

"Not likely!"

"Very likely. I'm just not being pleasant about it."

When he opened his mouth to retort, I said, "I said I'd give you another chance, but I never said anything about being nice."

"At least let me come with you. The least I can do is protect you, even if you don't want to be in my company."

The first thing that ran though my head was,_ You nutcase! Of course I don't wanna be in your company! _The second being, _You'd run at the first sign of danger, leaving me to fend for myself!_

Not wanting to lose sight of my target I sighed and said, "Fine. Just don't freaking annoy me!"

I thought I heard him mutter something under his breath, but when I narrowed my eyes in his direction, he held up his hands in surrender.

Looking ahead, I followed the spirit, making sure it was always within my sights. I was concerned. It was obvious the man was dead, the question was _how._ How had he died? I'd seen people get run over by vehicles, stabbed, gunned down, and pretty much any other violent form of death a person could think of. I was scared to find his body, and yet I knew I had to. If I didn't, no one would. He may have been an asshole, but he was still somebody's son.

After what felt like at least two hours of winding our way through the thicket, Turner asked, "So, where exactly are we going again?"

I didn't answer, couldn't answer. As we'd walked, my fear continued to grow. We had to be getting close to the body by now, but that wasn't what I was worried about any more. What I was concerned about now was how I was going to explain my knowledge of the body's location to Turner. I couldn't exactly tell him what I was. What I could do. _Yea, that'd make a great conversation! _I thought to myself sarcastically, _'Hey, Turner, I can see and talk to dead people! Actually, I'm following one to his body now! Wanna check it out?_

A sudden rustling sound caught our attention. We both turned to look at the forest on either side of us, ready for an attack.

"Stay here!" Turner hissed, taking off into the trees.

_You freaking idiot!_ I thought, sighing lightly,_ Oh well. At least that got rid of one of my problems._

Looking around I quickly found the spirit again and resumed walking. After a few more minutes I found what I'd been looking for.

I pressed the back of my wrist to my mouth, barely holding back a sob. The mans body lay on the ground in front of me. Or, at least a few _pieces_ did. It was obvious that he'd been blown to bits. As I glanced around, I saw an arm lying here, a few toes over there. I crouched close to the ground, holding my head in my hands as I took a few calming breaths.

I glanced up to see the grim face of the spirit beside me. Holding back my tears, I nodded to him, telling him that I would find a way to let someone know what had happened to him. With a grim smile, he disappeared, leaving me alone.

I heard Turner calling me, so I stood and walked away from the scene. I began jogging, trying to put as much distance between me and the scene as possible.

I squeaked in surprise when I almost ran into Turner. He grabbed my upper arms and held me upright. _Awkward._ I thought silently, even as my gaze traveled from his hand wrapped around my arms to his own muscular ones. _Muscles. _I sighed inwardly, biting my lip.

I shook my head lightly and stood fully, brushing his hands off me. When he reached out to touch me again I snapped,"Thank you, but I am perfectly capable of standing on my own now. Your assistance is no longer required."

He frowned at me, but said nothing more on the subject. As I brushed the imaginary dirt off of my clothes he asked, "What were you doing over there?"

I narrowed my eyes slightly at this. Had his eyes just flickered with anger? Or was I just being paranoid again?

Sighing, I said, "None of your business. However, if you must know, I wasn't really paying that much attention to what you were saying. By the time I realized what you'd said, I'd already wandered off."

For a few seconds I wondered if he would call me on my lie, but he said nothing, opting to shrug his shoulders instead.

I turned and began wandering back the way we'd originally come from. With everything I'd seen, I couldn't wait to get away from this place. My mind spun, my thoughts chasing each other.

It was obvious to me that Man-whore had been dead for some time. Seeing as though the leader of the entire operation was dead, I knew I should feel relieved. But I didn't. I could still feel tension in the air, something was stirring between the humans and the Na'vi again.

Logic said that I probably had nothing to do with the current animosity between the species, but I couldn't help but wonder. Was Man-whore really the leader of the entire operation? Or was that just a ruse to help hide the real identity of the person that had dragged me here? From my limited encounters with the man, I had a feeling that he wasn't smart enough to pull something like this off, but if it hadn't been him, who had done this?

I pressed my fingers to my temples, feeling a headache growing. I vaguely heard Turner say something behind me, but I just continued walking into the dense forest.

Ta'kuk's POV

I walked ahead of the rest of the scouting group, feeling an overwhelming need to get back to Home Tree._ I'm just worried about the possible damage the humans have caused._ I thought, not really believing myself. _Who knows what kind of damage Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu_**1 **_has caused by now._

I would never admit it, but the thought had my lips curling. The redheaded woman had many sides to her, the cool calculating side that often appeared when she was alone or deep in thought, the witty, sarcastic side that was almost always present, no matter what kind of mood she was in. Not to mention the caring and concerned side that showed up whenever someone was in need of assistance, as well as ever-grinning, overly happy side that seemed to appear when she talked about something that she had a passion for.

I thought back to the conversation we'd had earlier about her hatred of stupidity. She'd agreed with me about humans being stupid, and yet was able to think of good defenses for her species. She had a fair mind, seeing both sides to the argument, and yet I remembered how she'd gotten lost in the conversation. Continually grinning, her eyes sparkling with passion and happiness.

I shook my head and glanced up, looking at the fading light on the horizon. I again felt the urge to hurry back to Home Tree.

A small rustling caught my attention. Looking to the side I saw nothing, to I pulled myself into a tree, sitting on one of the lower branches to observe the ground below.

I was shocked to see Abby walk out from behind a few trees, ducking to avoid their large leaves. A lock of her red hair fell into her eyes making her glare at the offending strands. She brushed it back, out of her face and she began pulling small twigs from her soft curls. I smiled when I hear her mutter, "Really? I did everything possible to avoid branches and my hair still ends up being a mess! How the hell did that happen?"

She was still pulling debris from her hair when a Na'vi walked up behind her. I clenched my teeth, barely suppressing a growl when I realized it was the Dream Walker that was with her.

I watched as he chuckled at her obvious frustration with her hair. She turned to look at him, arching an eyebrow as she did so. When he didn't stop grinning she flicked a small twig at him, laughing as it bounced off his forehead.

"Was that really necessary?" He asked, resting his weight on one foot.

She pressed her lips together, pouting them slightly before smiling and saying, "Yes."

He glared at the back of her head as she turned and began walking away. I couldn't help the surge of pride I felt as I watched this unfold. The fact that she didn't seem to like him overly much made my lips curl with satisfaction.

With a sigh, the Dream Walker began to follow her, asking, "Do you even know where the hell we are?"

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder, stating, "Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Really?"

"No."

"Abby!" The male lifted his arms in frustration.

"What?" She asked innocently, biting her lip.

"If you didn't know where we were going, why did we come here?"

"Call it... Curiosity if you will."

With an audible sigh, he loped over and ducked down, grabbing the girls ankles.

"Hey!" She cried out in surprise as he lifted her, dangling her upside-down.

"Not nice! Put me down!"

When he did nothing but laugh she said, "This is abuse!"

With another laugh he replied, "No it isn't. You just don't like it."

"Of course I don't like it! All of the blood is rushing to my head!"

She arched her back, trying to touch the ground with her fingertips, as if it would somehow help her. When he lifter her higher she said, "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! Now please put me down!"

He carefully set her on the ground, smirking as she massaged her temples.

The rage I felt was indescribable. First off, he shouldn't be touching her at all. Secondly, he should've listened to her the first time she'd told him to let her go. And lastly, I was going to find a way to make him pay.

I heard her mutter something along the lines of, "I _will_ have my revenge on you for this."

I shifted slightly, the sound almost inaudible even to my ears. Suddenly, her head swung towards me, her emerald eyes scanning the trees around me. I was surprised. How had she heard such a small noise? Especially considering the fact that humans had very poor hearing.

The male next to her looked up, eyebrows furrowed. He glanced back at the redhead, asking, "Did you hear something?"

"I thought I did," She muttered, narrowing his eyes, "Then again, it could've been the sound of my blood rushing in my ears! No thanks to you!"

He rolled his eyes, but said nothing. With a small groan, Abby stood, brushing dirt from her clothes. "So," she asked, smiling at the Dream Walker beside her, "How _are_ we gonna get out of here?"

"You mean you don't have a plan?"

"Well, normally I would, but I've kinda been focused on something else."

"What the hell you could you possibly be focused on?"

"String theory."

He paused and stared at her. "Why?"

"Simple. My perfectionism is getting the best of me. I was reading about it earlier and I haven't been able to focus on anything else for a while."

Something about her explanation didn't sit well with me. The way she bit her lip and tapped her foot impatiently made me feel like she was trying to avoid saying something. "Anyway! Back to the original problem! How are we gonna get outta here?"

Sighing again, I finally decided to make myself known. I jumped down, landing a few feet away from the two of them. Abby turned her head to regard me, unfazed by my sudden appearance. The Dream Walker, however, jolted, quickly taking a few steps back. _Good._ I thought smugly,_ He knows to be afraid of me._

There was a tense silence for a few moments, until Abby suddenly interrupted it by saying, "Well, I guess that solves one of our problems. Now if only I could get the two of you to get along..." She trailed off when the Dream Walker glared at her. "And on that note," She said, inching closer to me, "Let's get going, shall we?"

I said nothing, but led them through the forest. I glanced back a few times, nearly smiling when I realized that Abby was still right behind me, whereas the Dream Walker was struggling to keep pace. _Good._ I thought again. I couldn't help but feel the same smug satisfaction I'd felt earlier. A Dream Walker could never compare to a true Na'vi.

We walked into a small clearing and I was surprised to find the other girls sitting in a small group on the other side of it. Listening carefully, I heard one of them say, "Hey, d'you think Abby got lost? Or is Turner holding her up?"

"No to both!" Another answered, "She's probably making out with him!" The girls laughed as I stiffened. How long had the two been on their own together? My tail thrashed at the thought. _Never again!_ I thought sullenly, watching as the girl beside me began blushing, _They aren't allowed to be on their own alone anymore! Ever!_

"Christina!" Abby shouted, storming over to the other girls, "Shut your mouth you hussy!"

They all laughed as Christina responded with something along the lines of, "Open from nine to five!"

I turned and walked back the way I'd come from to look for the scouting group, barely resisting the urge to punch the Dream Walker in the face as I brushed past him.

I met up with the rest of my group, falling in step beside Kin'ta. We said nothing for awhile, but I had a feeling he was in a hurry. I was about to ask him why he was in such a rush, when he suddenly perked up, barely suppressing a smile. I almost laughed when I saw what he was happy about.

The tallest blonde and the brunette were sitting on one of the higher branches of Home Tree, their legs dangling over the edge. I'd had a feeling he liked Keeana, but this just cemented my beliefs.

We made our way up the tree quickly, soon standing beside the human females. I had to fight off my own grin when I heard Abby half shout, "Oh my freaking goodness! Stop it!"

Christina ducked around some of the leaves hanging in a makeshift doorway that led to a small room that was comprised of several thick tree branches that had twined together.

She smiled when she saw us, nodding her head in a small greeting. When I raised an eyebrow in question she laughed and said, "Abby hasn't been around all day, it's only fair that we get to bother her now." When I said nothing in response, she glanced over her shoulder at the seething girl behind her and said, "It's actually really entertaining!"

I moved around her and leaned against the doorway, lips twitching when I saw Abby and Alayna sitting together, the former glaring at the latter.

"Okay, lets try this again." The blackette said, grinning evilly. "What is the first letter in the English alphabet? Is it A: C, B: D, C: A, or D: B?"

"Oh. My. Fucking. God! I've already told you, it's C! The answer is C!"

"So you think the first letter in the alphabet is C?"

"No! The first letter in the alphabet is A, which makes the answer C!"

"So you think it's A?"

"Yes!"

"Are you sure you want to answer A: C?"

"No! Mother freaking stop it! You know what I mean!"

"Stop being an ass! Just give me your answer!"

"Stop being stupid! My answer is C!"

"And you're sure that C is the first letter in the alphabet?"

"Knock it off! A is the first letter in the alphabet! It's obvious!"

"So, you mean C? As in C is the first letter in the alphab-"

"Shut up!" The redhead hissed at the other girl, "Go away, shut up, and don't even think about talking to me for about seven weeks! If you try before that, you will end up dead!"

The blonde laughed and strode past me, stating, "I would wait a while before telling her _anything! _Doesn't matter if it's bad or good, she's likely to kill anyone that gets in her way at this point."

I shrugged and walked over to the angry girl, forcing myself to keep a straight face. She was just so cute when she was angry! Her cheeks flushed lightly, her eyes flashing from a dark emerald to a lighter shade of jade. I sat beside her and raised an eyebrow in her direction, saying nothing. She looked up at me and, guessing my thoughts, said, "No, I'm not okay. I am freaking furious right now!"

Christina smiled and said, "You have many levels of furious. I'm gonna kill you furious, I'll smack you if you don't stop talking furious, stop being a god damned idiot furious. Therefore, your description of 'furious' does none of us any good."

"Flipping tables furious! Okay?! I'm flipping tables furious!"

Suddenly, the blackette stuck her head around the corner and asked, "Like, literally flipping tables, or just metaphorically fli-"

"Get out. Unless you have a death wish, I suggest you start running now. Fast."

The deadly calm that Abby had spoken with seemed to finally get her point across to the other girl, making the shorter girl's eyes widen even as she backed around the corner slowly.

"Someone, please find that girl a boyfriend! Preferably _before_ I end up killing her in an annoyed rage! Please?"

She leaned against my shoulder and somehow I couldn't find the strength to push her away. I found myself thinking about how much time she had left here._ How long is it now?_ I wondered to myself. For some reason, I couldn't force myself to think about the answer.

**Abby: Aaaaaaand... That's it! Haha! I'm so sorry! I didn't think that it was going to take that long to finish this chapter!**

**Salynna: What took you so long! My god! I thought you'd died!**

**Abby: I said sorry! I was busy doing other writing!**

**Salynna: For what? School hasn't even started yet!**

**Abby: I know. I was writing a future chapter!**

**Salynna: WHAT?! WHY WHOULD YOU DO THAT!?**

**Abby: I had a good idea and I was scared I'd forget!**

**Salynna: Show me!**

**Abby: Nope! ;P You're just gonna have to wait like everybody else!**

**Salynna: SHOW ME!**

**Abby: NO! Anyways, rate and review! Your comments are always appreciated!**


	12. I Love You For This!

**_Abby: I LIVE!_ Oh my God, it's been forever since I've updated! I'm SOOOOOO sorry!**

**Alayna: You'd better be! Geez, I'm one of your besties and even _I_ thought you'd died! What took you so long you heartless female dog!**

**Abby: First off, I've been taking physics (Ugg!) and Pre-cal (Good lord), so I've been kinda busy this semester. And secondly, why couldn't you just say bitc-**

**Alayna: Don't say it! Keeana's looking for donations for a charity, so she decided to start up a swear jar for everybody she knows. She's already taken, like, 20 bucks from me!**

**Abby: O_o Got'cha. No swearing today... Anywho, please enjoy the most recent chapter, review (please, PLEASE review!) and sorry again for the delay!**

**Keeana: Did I hear a swear from over here?**

**Abby & Alayna: NO! No you did not! O_O**

Abby's POV

I yawned for what felt like the hundredth time that morning, looking around dazedly. It had been several days since I'd talked to Ta'kuk, who always seemed to be busy, and I couldn't help but feel put out because of it. I had realized quite a while ago that he'd become a very important friend to me and I found myself missing him. Sure, I had my sisters as well as other Na'vi to talk to, but it just didn't seem the same.

"Uh oh!" I heard someone drawl, "I think someone's falling in love!"

I turned to look at Salynna, who was now grinning at me. My sisters and I were currently sitting in the same enclosed area we had discovered a few days ago, which was nestled among the higher branches of Home Tree. It was comprised of large branches that had grown together and was becoming an ever familiar sight for us.

I raised an eyebrow at Salynna before saying, "Shouldn't you be working on your massive pile of homework?"

She wrinkled her nose in disgust before turning back to the biology questions she'd been answering. I had finished my own school work weeks ago, leaving me bored. I smiled an said, "Besides. I'm not falling in love with anyone."

I heard someone on my other side snort, making me turn an pout in their direction. Chrissy was looking at me like I'd just told the worlds biggest lie. "What?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"As if it isn't already bloody obvious." She replied, setting down her papers. "So? Who's the lucky guy?"

"No one! I've already told you, I'm not in love!"

"Sure, sure. That's what they all say!"

"I'm not! Seriously."

"Yea, and you seriously," Keeana said, grinning widely, "Lie like a carpet. On second thought, you don't lie half as well."

"Oh hush! And do your damn homework!" I huffed.

"Yes mother."

"Shut it!" I snapped. With a sigh, I stood and walked out, ignoring the giggles and whispers behind me.

_What, are they love experts now? Geez! _I was so absorbed in my thoughts I almost didn't see Turner walking towards me.

"Hey Abby!" He called, lengthening his strides to catch up to me.

I hummed in response, but said nothing more. We walked in silence for a few minutes, carefully picking our way through the upper branches of Hometree. Just as I was about to turn around and walk back the way we'd come, Turner said, "Guess what."

I paused for a moment, looking up at him with my face tilted, before saying, "You've solved world hunger?"

His eyebrows rose, so I said, "You've discovered how to split an atom?" No response. "You've done something amazing?"

He chuckled at that, stating, "You'll think it's amazing, but I'm not sure if others would agree or not."

Now I was interested. I gestured for him to continue, but he didn't say anything, just started climbing down the large branches of the tree. I looked down after him and bit my lip._ It took me forever to get up here, and now you want me to go down? Great! Maybe if I'm lucky I won't hurt myself, but what're the odds of that?_ I thought sarcastically before following Turner.

When I made it to the bottom I grinned to myself._ I must be getting better at this!_

Looking around, I spotted a group of young Na'vi crowding around one of the training fields. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was Ta'kuk that was training there. I found myself completely mesmerized by this. The rate at which he was able to aim his bow and arrow was amazing.

And yet, I felt a pang of sadness wash over me. So, he had time enough to show off to everybody around him, but he couldn't find the time to even say hi to me anymore? I knew I was being ridiculous, but I couldn't help it! I'd really thought we were getting close, but I suppose I'd been wrong.

I jumped slightly when I heard Turner clear his throat. I gave him a sheepish smile, hoping that if I gave him my full attention, I'd forget about Ta'kuk being a jerk towards me. It wasn't helping.

"Well," Turner said, his tail swishing behind him agitatedly, "I figured that you might miss certain things from Earth, so I decided to bring you something that I know you'll love."

I was beginning to get excited now, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet. "What is it?" I asked breathlessly.

"Close your eyes and hold out your hands." Was the reply I got. I shot him a suspicious look, but when he raised an eyebrow in challenge, I sighed and did as he'd asked.

I felt something heavy and smooth press into my hands. "Can I open my eyes now?" I asked, barely able to contain my curiosity.

"I don't know. What do you think?" He asked slyly. I could practically hear him grinning at my torture.

"I think you should. Especially because I'm about to open them whether you want me to or not."

He laughed at that and said, "Alright then. You can open them."

My eyes popped open and I looked down at the object in my hands. I squealed in delight when I realized what it was.

It was an old copy of Stephen King's _Bag of Bones,_ which just so happened to be my favourite book from my favourite author.

I grinned up at Turner and said, "When I tell you this, please don't take it the wrong way." He nodded once, frowning slightly.

I took a running leap at him, wrapping my legs around his waist even as he wrapped his arms around me. "I love you!" I shouted, hugging him tightly. He laughed at that and said, "So I take it you like your gift?"

I pulled back and said, "Oh, big time." before placing a kiss on both of his cheeks, still grinning. I scrambled to get down and he let me go, standing still in complete shock. I gave him one more hug before dashing back up the tree, leaving him with a dazed smile on his face.

I clambered my way back up the tree, still grinning from ear to ear and clutching the book to my chest. Alayna suddenly poked her head around a corner, watching me with wide eyes for a moment.

"So. Who's the man?" The blackette asked slyly, smirking.

"Man? What makes you think-"

"Oh please!" Alayna cut me off with a roll of her eyes, "You're practically glowing! Now, do you wanna tell me who he is or am I gonna have to employ the girls as well?"

"I don't care. You can all grill me 'till you're lips turn blue, I still won't tell."

"I could always black mail you. Don't make me do it."

"Ha! Thats funny! What could you possibly have on m-"

"Your middle name is Ro-"

"Okay, okay!" I said, slapping a hand over her mouth, "I'll tell you later!"

With a chuckle, Alayna said, "I don't think I'll ever understand your hatred towards your middle name."

"It just doesn't fit me, okay." I said with a glare.

"Well, I'm going back to the Tree Cove. You coming?"

"Oh, so that's what we're calling it now, is it?" I asked with a small smile.

We walked side by side, back to our designated area. The second we walked into the room, Alayna announced mockingly, "Abby's got a wittle cwush on somebody!"

I stuck my tongue out at her and sat down on the floor. I brushed my thumb across the front cover of my book, looking down at it wistfully.

I could no longer deny that Turner knew me well, and I was somewhat flattered by the fact that he'd done so much for me. Not only had he given me my favourite book, but he'd given me a sense of home that I hadn't realized I'd been missing. He was familiar, he was safe, and above all he reminded me that, although my life on Earth hadn't been the best, there had still been someone who loved me.

I felt a sudden flash of guilt at that thought. Turner had loved me for years and I had never returned those feelings._ But perhaps I could learn to,_ I thought quietly. And yet, every time I tried to imagine Turners dark hazel eyes, they were always replaced by a different pair. A pair that were large and beautifully golden.

I shook my head at that, frustrated that I couldn't do anything without thinking about Ta'kuk. _Not that it matters to him,_ I thought sullenly. I knew all along that he didn't care for humans, so I shouldn't have been surprised that he'd eventually found something more entertaining to do with his time. Key word: shouldn't.

_He was probably just showing off. After all, there were probably plenty of available Na'vi girls watching._ I bit the inside of my cheek, barely containing my frustration at that thought. I had the strangest urge to claw the silly bitches' eyes out.

I froze at that thought, my hand going limp on the book cover._ No way._ I thought desperately,_ I can't be... Surely not..._ But the more I thought about it, the more it all came together in my mind._ I don't believe it, but I'm in love..._

_With Ta'kuk._

Ta'kuk's POV

I lifted my bow quickly and shot another arrow, hitting the center of the target again. I had spent many years perfecting my aim, and my hard work had payed off, seeing as though I never missed a shot.

Glancing around, I could see that several of the available Na'vi girls had gathered, all of them giggling and trying to attract my attention. I briefly scanned the crowed, my eyes passing over female after grinning female. And yet, the one grinning face that I wanted to see more than anything wasn't there.

It shouldn't have surprised me, seeing as though we hadn't seen each other for several days, and yet I still felt as if she _should_ have been there._ Perhaps she's with the Dreamwalker._ I shot another arrow, using more force than I normally did. _Not that he could ever compare to a true Na'vi. _Another arrow hit the target.

"_Ta'kuk!" _I turned to see Kin'ta jogging towards me. I nodded in greeting before turning back to my shooting. Kin'ta walked up beside me and, just as I was about to shoot another arrow, said, "_I think we should talk." _I let the arrow fly and turned to regard him. I could tell that he was being serious, so I shot a short glare at the Na'vi surrounding us. With a few grumbles and some sighs, they dispersed, leaving Kin'ta and I alone.

"_What is it?" _I asked him in Na'vi, carefully strapping my bow across my back.

"_It's about the red haired female."_ He responded, frowning.

I narrowed my eyes at this. _"Yes. What about her?" _I asked defensively.

"_Well you see-"_

He was cut off when we heard a shrill squeal. Looking up into some of the lower branches of Home Tree, I could clearly see Abby speaking with Turner. I glared at the fake, tail thrashing._ Now what could __Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu* possibly be so happy about?_ I asked myself.

She suddenly jumped into the Dreamwalker's arms before proclaiming, "I love you!"

_No!_ My mind yelled, even as I bared my fangs,_ That's not right! It can't be! Surely I heard that wrong._ But her words were confirmed a second later when she pulled back and kissed the male she was clinging to.

I was just about to charge up there and rip the two apart when I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. I turned, glaring at the Na'vi behind me. "_I was trying to tell you."_ He said, sadness tinting his voice.

_It's not right!_ I thought again furiously. Looking back up, I saw that Abby had disappeared and that Turner was staring up the tree with a strange look on his face. I wanted to beat the stupid male to a bloody pulp so badly, I could almost imagine it. Although the idea of breaking the Dreamwalker's nose was tempting, I decided to ignore him for the time being.

I climbed up the tree and began searching for my little human, dismissing anyone that tried to speak to me. I eventually found her sitting at the top of the tree, gazing blankly into space.

Then, almost as if she'd somehow heard me, she turned to look at me. Her eyes widened slightly, her cheeks turning pink.

I said nothing, but instead glared down at her. She had always been much smaller than I was, being human and all, and I couldn't help but notice how much I towered over her, especially since I was standing and she was sitting. She seemed so tiny and fragile, and yet I knew that was not the case. Abby would sooner attack someone than let them call her fragile. I had to fight the urge to smile at that, schooling my features to keep my frown intact.

She stood silently then and walked past me, glancing over her shoulder when I hesitated to follow. "So," She said as I fell into pace beside her, "Are you actually going to talk to me today?"

I felt a flash of guilt at that, but didn't allow it to bother me, instead choosing to hum in response. She stopped suddenly then, narrowing her eyes at me. I quickly came to the conclusion that she was more than a little peeved that I'd ignored her. I could almost feel my earlier anger wilting away under her glare.

Backtracking, I said, "I know I haven't been around for the past few days, and I'm sorry for that."

She seemed to accept my apology, smiling brightly. "Don't worry about it." She said before muttering what sounded like, "It's not like I could stay mad at you for long anyway."

I dismissed her words as wishful thinking on my part and ruffled her curly locks. "Hey!" She cried, batting my hand away playfully. She laughed as she smoothed her hair and I realized that I'd been missing her desperately, even though I hadn't realized it at the time.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and escorted her back to her sisters before leaving without another word. I had tried to shake myself of my thoughts and feelings towards her, but they just kept coming back, and the Dreamwalker certainly wan't helping much either. Just thinking about him made my hands ball into fists.

_No matter what,___I promised myself,_ I will not let that _fake_ take her away from me._ I knew it was irrational, but I couldn't help it. I had a feeling that, if I could keep the two apart, she would forget all about the stupid human.

_But she still has to go back to them soon._ My mind whispered. I frowned at this. _Doesn't matter._ I finally decided,_ We can give the other four back and I'll keep her. It's not like they'll miss one human all that much, and even if they do they can get over it. I found her first._ Again, I knew that it was irrational, but at that moment I didn't care. I was a Na'vi warrior, and I would fight to keep Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu by my side.

**Abby: Aww! Poor Ta'kuk is having a mental breakdown due to jealousy! Haha, sucks to be him right about now! Again, I'm so sorry that it took so long to publish this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Salynna: Abby, buy me a turtle.**

**Abby: Uhh, what does that have to do with anything?**

**Salynna: Nothing. I just really want a turtle.**

**Abby: Alrighty then. Please please please review! I love them so much! If you do, I'll give you a cyber cookie!**

**Salynna: Or maybe even a turtle!**

**Abby: Oh, for the love of God! I don't own any turtles, but I do own a stuffed turtle, if that makes you feel better.**

**Salynna: OMG! TURTLE! *Grabs it and runs away***

**Abby: Salynna! Get back here you! *Chases***

**Translation~ _Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu= My little warrior_**


	13. There's No Turning Back

**Abby: Hey guys! How's it goin'?**

**Christina: Haha. Physics and sig figs and exams, so many exams... OMG! Giant apples floating in the sky! But where did the purple monkeys go?**

**Abby: O_O Uhhh... Chrissy? Are you feeling okay?**

**Christina: Oh no! They're gonna come and get me! Keeana! Keep the purple monkeys away from me! Shoo, you evil demons! Go and eat the floating apples and leave me alone!**

**Abby: Okay then. No more physics for you... Anywho, on with the story! Oh, and please please please review! Please? I'll give you a purple pet monkey!**

**Christina: NO! THEY'RE MINE!**

**Abby: Too bad, so sad! And thanks to the people who reviewed my last chapter! You make my life worth living! XD**

**PhoenyxWarrior: I loved your review! I laughed so hard when I read it! Thank you so much, and I promise to post the chapters quicker! C=**

**Enigma180: Thanks so much for the review, I always appreciate new reviewers! I hope to hear from you again! :D**

**Oh, and of course I have to say thanks to all of the people that are following or have favourited my story, you make my life worth living! (I can't help myself! I just have to say thank you to everybody! Especially 'cause I'm Canadian! =3) So, thanks to the following people: **

**Autobot-Bre, Lucarby, PhoenyxWarrior, rangergilan, diana22sam02, itswafflesbeach, Lucas Bane, Goldweatherman, falkenfeder94, KitaKat, Dropout bear9, Sam0728, Coperta Di Neve Giglio, jamie0360, KingSquatch, Enigma180, DarkFireNyx, trickstersink, jigokunooujo, KnightStar0146,****and mercenarybunny.**

**Now, on with the story!**

**Please note: I don't own anything accept my OC's, but just you wait! Maybe I'll get the rights to **_**Avatar **_**someday! I can only hope!**

Abby's POV

_The blood and screams, they're everywhere! No! Please! Don't do this! Not for me! It isn't worth it, _I'm_ not worth it! Please!_

I awoke and slapped a hand to my forehead, my heart thundering in my chest and my muscles knotting. I was shaking and gasping for air, feeling as if a suffocating weight was pressing down on me.

_A dream?_ I asked myself, pressing my too cool hands to my cheeks. I sat up in my hammock, pulling my knees to my chest. I sat there for what felt like an eternity, listening to my heart quieting.

_Just a dream, just a dream._ I assured myself over and over again. _But how long will it stay 'just a dream'?_ It was times like this when I felt like my psychic powers were both a blessing and a curse. If I didn't have them, I wouldn't have to live knowing the terrible things that were going to happen in the future, nor would I have to see the horrifying visions of death every single day.

However, I also wouldn't be able to change what was going to be, wouldn't be able to protect those that I cared about the most, and that simply wasn't an option. Not now, not ever.

I felt tears welling in my eyes, but I pushed them back. I couldn't allow myself the luxury of crying now, I had to be strong, because what I was about to do would change everything.

_Why?_ My mind whispered,_ Can't I just ignore it this once? Stay happy for just a little while? If I do this, there's no turning back. And what about Ta'kuk? He'll never trust me again._

_What if I told him now?_ My heart asked desperately,_ There's a chance he would believe me! The Na'vi are highly spiritual, after all. Perhaps he would support me._

I shook my head at this. No. No way. Not after the last time. I could practically hear my sisters scathing voice in my ears. _'You're insane! If anyone else heard you talking like that, they'd lock you away forever. You're a danger to everyone around you! You'd probably end up killing someone!'_

The rest of the memories tried to break though the mental blockade I'd created years ago, but I held them at bay. I refused to think about them just now. I had to act now, there was no telling when my vision of the future would manifest itself.

I gently slid open the hammock, carefully dropping to the floor. Glancing up, I saw Ta'kuk leaning against a large branch next to the hammock. He was sleeping, his chest rising and falling evenly. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to go to him, to seek comfort from him. This didn't surprise me, I had always craved physical contact, especially when I got upset. Now was no different in any way, shape, or form. On Earth, I had learned to suppress the need for touch because it was never offered, and I would just have to do the same thing here.

_The Na'vi aren't exactly open when it comes to that sort of thing, anyway. In fact, I don't think I've _ever_ seen a Na'vi show physical affection._

I took a deep breath and edged past him, silently climbing down the large tree limbs. It was dark out, the fluorescent plants glowing brightly. I wracked my brain, trying to remember where my sisters were. The only one I could think of at the moment was Alayna, who was somewhere at the bottom of the tree.

I pinched the bride of my nose and sighed. "Where could Alayna possibly be?"__I muttered to myself.

"Abby?" I jumped at the mention of my name._ Speak of the devil..._ I thought as I turned to see Alayna behind me. "What're you doing?" She asked, attempting to detangle her hair with her fingers.

"Looking for you, actually." I whispered.

"What's wrong?" The blackette asked, suddenly looking wide awake.

"What makes you thing something is wrong?"

"I know you, and I know that face too. That's your I-just-saw-something-that-I-really-wish-I-hadn't face."

"Damn you're good."

She laughed quietly and said, "I know, but no one ever believes me."

"Umm..." I said hesitantly, checking over my shoulders, "Do you... Maybe... Know where everyone else is?"

"I'll find them. You," She said, giving me a patronizing look, "Go sit in the Tree Cove. You look like you're about to faint."

_I probably am._ I thought, pressing a hand to my forehead as Alayna rushed off to find the other girls. With a heavy sigh, I began the long climb to the top of the tree. After a few minutes of silent climbing, I pulled myself up onto the final branch. I pressed my knuckles into my eyes, watching the array of colours dance before me.

"Hey Baby!" The sudden sound of Keeana's voice made me jump.

"Damn," I muttered as I turned, "I'll be lucky if I don't die from a heart attack sometime today. Freaking people keep on freaking scaring me."

"You okay?" Kee asked with a halfhearted smile.

"I don't know." I told her honestly.

"What's going on?" Salynna asked sleepily, Chrissy and Alayna entering the Tree Cove behind her.

"I don't know." I said again, "I barely understand anything I saw."

"You understood enough to make yourself concerned." Keeana pointed out.

"I guess that makes sense." I said, nodding slowly.

"There's gotta be something we can do, so let us in on your dirty little secret."

I rubbed my temples before saying, "People. We need people."

"Other people are going to help you?" Salynna asked, blonde eyebrows raised.

"Yes and no. Look, I don't want to say too much. I don't want to change the course of the future without thinking about all of the possible outcomes first, which means that information will be limited. Is that okay?"

"Bro," Chrissy said, wrapping her arm around my shoulders, "We're here for you. What kind of people do you need?"

"Na'vi. I need the other Na'vi clans to come here. Home Tree isn't safe, or at least it won't be for long."

"Hold up. What?" Alayna asked, "You want us to just randomly walk up to some unknown, giant ass blue people, tell them that something bad is going to happen- even though they have absolutely no reason to believe us- and somehow drag them all back here?" When her question was met by nothing but silence, she said, "Alright. Sounds like a good plan to me!"

"Really?" I asked, completely shocked by her answer.

Keeana reached up and smacked me upside the head before saying, "What part of 'We're here to support you' did you not understand? Geez, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one here."

"So," Chrissy said with a smile, "Now that that's settled, how are we going to get there?"

I shook my head at this. "Not 'We'. You. I'm staying behind."

"What! Why?" Chrissy asked in surprise.

"Someone has to stay to convince the Na'vi _here_ that we aren't trying to hurt them. Besides," I said with a shrug, "It would be almost pointless for me to come, seeing as though I'm not going to be mentally stable for awhile. I need to keep tabs on what the future holds, which means I'm going to have to spend a lot of my time in between levels of awareness."

"Abby! You know how that affects you! Look at what happened to you after your dad died!"

"Exactly!" I said, placing a hand on the blondes shoulder, "That's why I need you guys to go. I won't be in any shape to travel anywhere for quite some time."

"In that case, one of us will stay with you." Salynna insisted, seemingly more awake than she had been before. "We know how to pull you out of your visions, the Na'vi will have no idea what to do."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." I said nonchalantly, "Now, as for transportation, I'm guessing that taking a Banshee would be fastest."

"Wouldn't it be best to prepare the Na'vi here before going to get the other clans?" Keeana asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why would they ever believe anything that I have to say? I'm human, don't forget."

"Isn't there any way we could slow down this plan? To allow the Na'vi time to accept the possibility that you're telling the truth?"

"He'll die if we don't do something." I responded vehemently.

"Well," Alayna said, brushing invisible dirt off her jeans, "If it's a life or death situation, count me in on the plan." When the other girls murmured in agreement, she continued, "So, when should we leave?"

"As soon as possible."

"This morning it is then!" The blackette said with a grin.

"You're ready now?" I asked, somewhat surprised.

"Of course we are! It's not like we have too many belongings with us."

"Alright, if you're sure..."

Alayna just rolled her eyes and began to make her way to the base of the tree, leaving Chrissy, Salynna, Keeana, and I to clamber down after her. Once at the bottom, we wasted no time in finding a Banshee. It wasn't hard, considering Ta'kuk had all but showed me how to call them. Standing on the edge of a sheer drop off, I whistled.

A large blue and green Banshee heeded the call, landing with a muffled thud on the ground before us. I reached out to it, smiling when it leaned into my hand and began purring softly.

"Why am I not surprised by this?" Salynna asked with a grin of her own, "No wonder you wanted to work with animals, they fucking love you!"

"You think so?"

"Nah, I just said it 'cause I was tired of being quiet." She said sarcastically, shrugging her shoulders.

I snorted and motioned for her to climb onto the large beast. Once she was carefully perched on its back, she reached down and pulled Chrissy and Alayna up.

Salynna was just about to pull Keeana up when the brunette suddenly began to shake her head. "I don't like this." She said, frowning deeply.

"What're you talking about?" Chrissy asked, "We already agreed to go!"

"Yea, but do all four of us need to leave? Out of everybody,_ she_," Keeana gestured towards me, "Should be the one person that _isn't_ alone! Besides, I'm not exactly the cuddliest person you've ever met. I have to wonder if my going would make the Na'vi more distrustful."

I paused and thought about her statement. The sad part was, it made sense. The brunette wasn't exactly famous for her good attitude and she had a bad habit of rubbing people the wrong way a lot of the time.

"Umm... She's got a point." Alayna said, playfully braiding Christina's hair.

"I know." I said with a sigh, "It's up to you Kee, I can't control you. But just so you know, it isn't exactly going to be sunshine and rainbows here."

Keeana laughed before saying, "Oh please! As if something like that would bother me!"

"Alright then. Keeana and I will stay here, and you guys need to leave quickly. I don't want you to get caught before you have a chance to leave."

The three girls gripped the Banshee tightly as it took off, leaving Keeana and I alone on the cliff edge.

"I hope everything turns out okay." The brunette said, shading her eyes with her hands. Suddenly, she froze and dropped her hands. "Oh my God!"

"What?" I asked, "What's wrong?"

"Do they have _any_ idea where any of the other clans are? We didn't talk about it before they left!"

I didn't say anything for a minute. _Probably should've thought that through a little bit more._ I thought to myself, _Oh well. Too late now._ "They're smart. I'm sure they'll figure it out."

Keeana gave me a disbelieving look before chuckling and stating, "Whatever you say. So, what do we do now?"

"We go back to Home Tree and wait for someone to realize that three of us are missing."

"How do you think they're gonna take that?"

"Guess." I said. And with that, Keeana and I began the short trek back to our temporary home.

**Abby: I FINISHED! HELL YEA! So, what did you think of the chapter Chrissy?**

**Christina: Monkeys... Physics and shit... Meeeeeehhhhhhh!**

**Abby: Well... Alrighty then... As always, **_**please review!**_** I do so love dem reviews! XD **

**Hopefully my next update will be soon, but I can't make any promises. I'm taking precal, chemistry, and history in school, so I'm gonna have a **_**lot **_**of homework. I'll try and publish again soon, so until then, stay awesomely awesome! XD**


	14. What did you do!

**Abby: Dear lord, I don't think I've ever been so busy in my entire life! I went away on a 2 week trip to Europe and I've been swamped with homework ever since. It's insane!**

**Salynna: Bitch...**

**Abby: I would've taken you with me, but you wouldn't have fit into my suitcase! I'm sorry! XD**

**Christina: Haha! I got to go and you didn't!**

**Abby: Chrissy! Don't rile her up!**

**Salynna: FUCK YOU! I wanted to go to Europe to!**

**Abby: Trust me, I almost regret it now that it's over. I have so much pre-cal work it isn't even funny!**

**Alayna: Speaking of which, shouldn't you be doing your homework right now?**

**Abby: Ummm... No? O_o Anyway! I just wanna say thanks to the following people: ****Autobot-Bre, Lucarby, PhoenyxWarrior, rangergilan, diana22sam02, itswafflesbeach, Lucas Bane, Goldweatherman, falkenfeder94, KitaKat, Dropout bear9, Sam0728, Coperta Di Neve Giglio, jamie0360, KingSquatch, Enigma180, DarkFireNyx, trickstersink, jigokunooujo, KnightStar0146,****EFJRAD, AmericanBeautyVampireGirl, Paige Uzumaki Sohma Albarn, Sassi15, , The Draconian Knight**, **and mercenarybunny!**

**You guys are the BEST! Also:**

**PhoenyxWarrior: I know, the chapter was really short! You were right though, the chapter was supposed to help build the girls characters a bit more because I felt like the other girls were kind of... two dimensional if you know what I mean! :D Anyway, thanks so much for the review! I really appreciate it!**

**One more thing before we begin, the song lyrics I used in this chapter are "In the Dark" by Annelise Collette.**

**Now, lets get on with the story!**

**Please note that I don't own anything other than my OC's and the plot bunny, but I wish I did... XD**

Ta'kuk's POV:

_Why is it that whenever I want to see __Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu, she's strangely absent?_ I wondered to myself as I walked around Hometree. I hadn't seen her in quite a while and I was beginning to get worried about her. Glancing at the forest floor, I could see Kin'ta pacing back and forth, obviously as concerned as I felt.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of red. I turned quickly to see Abby and Keeana walk though the tree line. Kin'ta looked up and swiftly walked towards them as I made my way down out of the tree.

"Where were you?" I asked as I reached them, folding my arms across my chest. Abby glanced up, but quickly looked away again.

"None of your business." Keeana said roughly, glaring up at me. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Where are the other females?" Kin'ta asked, taking a step closer to the two girls and I had to swallow the urge to hiss at him. As irrational as it was, I didn't want him too close to Abby.

"As I said before," Keeana growled, "It's none of your business!"

"What's happening?" I nearly groaned when I saw the Dreamwalker approaching. By now our conversation had attracted attention, many other Na'vi were standing around to listen.

Abby turned to look at the male, who was now standing next to her. "Nothing much." She murmured, craning her neck to look up at him. I clenched my fists at this. Why would she look at him, but not at me? I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself. It didn't work.

"Nothing much, huh?" Kin'ta asked, glaring down at the brunette, "If it's nothing much, then why don't you tell us where the other females are?"

Keeana opened her mouth to reply, but Abby cut her off, "They're gone."

"Gone?" I hissed, grabbing Abby's arm, "What do you mean 'gone'?"

"Get off her!" Turner hissed, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back against him.

I snarled at him, taking a threatening step closer. Abby stuck her arm out, placing her hand against my chest before saying, "Stop it! Both of you! That's enough!"

Everyone turned to look at Keeana when she said, "Damn! Looks like some shits about to go down here!"

"Umm, Keeana?" Abby said, raising a delicate eyebrow, "Really not helping right now!" The brunette shrugged in response, shooting her friend a grin.

"Where are they?" Kin'ta asked again, frowning tightly.

"I'm not telling." Abby said, leaning back against the Dreamwalker as if seeking protection from him._ Against me?_ I wondered. The thought made me angry. _I_ should be the one protecting her, not the _fake._

"You don't have a choice." I said, sneering at the male behind her.

"Back off!" He hissed back, baring his fangs.

"Stop, just stop!" Abby said, looking up at Turner pleadingly, "Please..." He nodded once in agreement before pressing his hand against her lower back and escorting her away, Keeana trailing behind them.

I turned on my heel and stormed off, flexing and clenching my fists as I went. Kin'ta kept pace beside me, muttering something along the lines of 'How many secrets can one small human have?'.

I had no idea what was going on, but it didn't seem right. Everything had been fine yesterday, so what happened?_ No doubt it has something to do with the Dreamwalker,_ I thought scathingly.

"What do you want to do with them?" Kin'ta asked suddenly, resting his hand on my shoulder.

I growled and said, "Don't let them go anywhere alone." Kin'ta nodded and left me alone, almost as if he sensed that I needed to be alone.

A walked for a little while before pulling myself up into a tall tree. I settled on a branch and leaned back against the bark, sighing heavily. There had to be an explanation for her behavior, there just had to be.

"She would never do something like this," I muttered to myself. _Unless she thought she was doing what was best, _my mind whispered. _She was perfectly happy yesterday, so who convinced her to send the other girls back?_

There were only two possible answers in my mind. Either one of the Na'vi had suggested they go back, which I highly doubted considering the fact that almost all of the Na'vi had grown used to the girls and didn't mind their presence, or the Dreamwalker had said something.

_I should've killed him when I had the chance!_ I thought angrily. I sighed then and rubbed my eyes. _At least there is no doubt as to where the females have gone._

It was obvious that the three girls had gone back to the Sky Peoples base, but the real question was; what had prevented the other two from leaving as well?

_Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu could've gone with them, and I never would've found her..._ Just the thought was enough to make my heart beat faster out of fear._ What if..._ I shook my head. I wouldn't allow myself to think about that. I had a feeling I'd go crazy thinking about all of the possible outcomes.

_It's final._ I thought, looking back in the direction of Hometree,_ She cannot be left on her own._

Nearly a week passed without major event. The human females were still missing and it was clear that neither of the two remaining girls were going to say a word about their whereabouts. Not that it mattered overly much to me, the one human I was concerned with was still here.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to stay too far away from her. She, of course, was never aware of my presence, but I was there nonetheless. It irritated me, that she worried me so much, but I had long since given up on trying to ignore her. It just wasn't possible.

_It's not like it matters much anyway,_ I told myself, _It's not like she's done anything unforgivable._ The word 'yet' hung heavy in the back of my mind, but I dismissed it.

I could clearly see her from the branch I was sitting on, her bright red hair tangling around her face in the light breeze. Looking more closely, I could make out the dark circles under her eyes, which had only become more and more prominent over time. She looked as if she hadn't slept at all in the time that the other females had been gone.

She even seemed more detached than normal, never truly looking at anyone when they spoke to her. Her gaze was almost always off to the side, as if she was looking at something else. Not only that, but she had also begun muttering to herself. She would stop at random times, almost like she was having a conversation with another person.

It didn't help that the Dreamwalker was following her around everywhere she went. Whenever she went somewhere, he was right on her heels, never far behind. I knew she had a dislike for him, so it didn't surprise me she was so exhausted and stressed out.

_If I could just keep Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu separated from the Dreamwalker, I'm sure she'd be fine._ I thought, glaring at the afore mentioned male. He was sitting next to Abby, watching her as closely as I was.

Abby, however, was lost in her own world, staring off into the distance even as Keeana babbled away to her. Kin'ta suddenly pulled himself up next to me, making me raise an eyebrow at him. He shrugged in response and sat with me, observing the humans below just as I had.

"_It seems like both of us have too much free time on our hands if we can just sit here and watch them like this."_ He said offhandedly in Na'vi, making me glare at him. Part of me knew he was trying to help, but I really didn't care at the moment.

I turned my gaze back down to the humans just in time to see the brunette slap her friend across the face, hard enough to cause her head to whip to the side. I tensed at this, ready to attack the smaller female._ How dare she!_ My mind screeched even as the Dreamwalker shouted, "What the fuck!"

"Feel better?" Keeana asked, folding her arm across her chest.

Abby gave her a faint smile in return before saying, "Yea, thanks for that."

"Anytime." Was the reply she got.

I shook my head at this. I would never understand the interactions between the human females, they just didn't make any sense.

"You know what your problem is?" The brunette continued, grinning at her friend, "You haven't danced in forever! You always dance when you're upset! I'm sure that'll make you feel better."

The red head shook her head in reply before saying, "Thanks, but I don't think so. I'm not really in the mood."

"Abby, just do it."

"No, I-"

"Abby!" Keeana stared hard at the taller girl.

"Do I have to?"

"I'll keep bugging you until you do."

With a sigh, Abby said, "Fine. I hope you're right about this." She stood, brushing dirt off her clothes as Keeana smiled gleefully at her friend. The red haired girl stood in the middle of the clearing.

I leaned back against the tree as she began to dance.

"_**In the Dark" by: Annelise Collette (AN: I personally suggest listening to the music as you read, it makes it way more interesting :D)**_

_**At night I fight my biggest battles, **_

_**When the lights go down.**_

_**I could cut worse than a razor blade,**_

_**At night I'll take this whole town down.**_

_I could watch her forever_, I thought as I watched her perform flawless spins and turns. Every move she made seemed to flow together with the last, making me unable to turn away.

_**And oh, I say take it, take it easy,**_

_**No need to get yourself all worked up.**_

_**Oh, I say take it, take it easy**_

_**Aye (x5)**_

It was clear that she'd done this dance many times before, and I could almost imagine her attempting it again and again in search of the perfection she was known to crave.

_**When I'm left in the (dark x8)**_

_**I tear myself a (part x8)**_

_**I was doomed form the (start x8)**_

_**When I'm left in the dark.**_

She danced with so much emotion, it was almost as if she was thinking back to the darkest moments in her life. It caught me off guard, just how small she seemed at that moment.

_**Blaming someone's just the game I play,**_

_**My evil deeds come out with words to say.**_

_**Beating down on all the good I've built,**_

_**The mirror shows just who I killed.**_

She seemed so unreachable at times, and yet, in this moment, it was almost as if she _wanted_ people to see how delicate she was.

_**And oh, I say just turn all your thoughts off,**_

_**No need to make yourself go crazy.**_

_**Oh, I say take it, take it easy,**_

_**Aye (x5)**_

Perhaps I was imagining it, but I thought I saw a small smile flash across her face. It almost seemed as if she found the words ironic in some way.

_**When I'm left in the (dark x8)**_

_**I tear myself a (part x8)**_

_**I was doomed form the (start x8)**_

_**When I'm left in the dark.**_

I nearly stopped breathing when she rocked up onto her chest and brought her legs around to touch her head. Keeana whistled and the Dreamwalker stared at her in amazement. I had the urge to kill him for looking at her that way, but I ignored it, wanting to continue watching her.

_**And no one can pull me out of this prison that I've made,**_

_**I lay here in the dark and wait for me to fade.**_

_**The best of me cuts right thought me,**_

_**Like I'm made so frail.**_

_**It's like I set myself up and wait for me to fail.**_

I sensed a certain desperation and sadness in her as she danced and I felt my chest constrict. _What exactly did she go through back on her planet?_ I wondered. I mentally slapped myself for this. _Why should I care?_ I asked myself,_ She doesn't care about the Na'vi. Not really. But perhaps I could change that..._

_**When I'm left in the (dark x8)**_

_**I tear myself a (part x8)**_

_**I was doomed form the (start x8)**_

_**When I'm left in the dark.**_

She executed several more turns and jumps before the song ended. When it did, Keeana squealed happily and rushed to hug her panting friend. The Dreamwalker seemed just as frozen as I felt.

I nearly fell out of the tree when a voice suddenly called out, "We're back!"

**Abby: Muahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I just love torturing my characters! :)**

**Alayna: You must love torturing your readers too, then! Update faster, you lazy ass!**

**Abby: Well, aren't you polite? Anywho, thanks for reading, and I'll attempt to update soon! Bye bye for now! XD**


	15. It's Time

**Abby: **_**Heller**_** people! I'm back! Aren't you all happy to see me!? XD**

**Salynna: Abby! You actually got off your lazy butt and started writing again!**

**Abby: Haha! Real funny! I've been busy with exam prep I'll have you know!**

**Christina: First off, 'heller' is **_**not**_** a real word. Is it really that hard to say hello or hi instead? Secondly, what do you mean you've **_**been**_** busy with exam prep? The exams aren't over yet, so shouldn't you still be studying?**

**Abby: SHHHH! O_o Don't tell, but I'm taking a break! And shut up! I'll say heller if I want to! :P**

**Christina: *Facepalm* Well, I'm not gonna stop you.**

**Abby: Good! On with the story! But first...**

**Salynna: Here we go again! **

**Abby: Hush! I just wanted to say thanks to the following people!**

**Autobot-Bre, Lucarby, PhoenyxWarrior, rangergilan, diana22sam02, itswafflesbeach, Lucas Bane, Goldweatherman, falkenfeder94, KitaKat, Dropout bear9, Sam0728, Coperta Di Neve Giglio, jamie0360, KingSquatch, Enigma180, DarkFireNyx, trickstersink, jigokunooujo, KnightStar0146,****EFJRAD, AmericanBeautyVampireGirl, Paige Uzumaki Sohma Albarn, Sassi15, , The Draconian Knig****ht, ****Spiderman15, A-Broken-Amethyst-Heart, DarkFireNyx, AnonRyder23, ****and mercenarybunny!**

**Salynna: I swear, that list is gonna end up taking up an entire page soon...**

**Abby: I know! Isn't it great! :3 On with the story!**

Abby's POV

Keeana and I both jumped when we suddenly heard someone call, "We're back!" We both turned to see Christina, Salynna, and Alayna slowly making their way toward us. I smiled at them as Keeana waved eccentrically.

"Damn!" Christina said, looking me up and down, "You look like hell!"

I laughed before saying, "Wow. Thanks Darling!"

"Anytime!" Was the reply I got.

We both looked over to see Keeana glomming onto Alayna and Salynna and burst out laughing when she nearly knocked both of them over.

"Oh!" Chrissy suddenly exclaimed, looking at something over their heads, "Abby, I'd like to introduce you to-"

She was cut off when Kin'ta and Ta'kuk jumped out of a nearby tree. "Ra'nak? What are you doing here?"

"Geez! Whatever happened to letting people finish their sentences?" The blonde asked, hands on her hips as she glared at the two Na'vi. I smiled at her antics and shook my head as another young Na'vi male approached our small group.

He inclined his head and said something in Na'vi. I nearly laughed when I saw Ta'kuk and Kin'ta's expressions. They both looked so shocked it was almost comical. As they began to converse in Na'vi, I looked to Christina, who was subtly nodding her head as she listened to them speak.

_It's times like this,_ I thought, _That I'm really glad she's so good with different languages. And that I worked in a daycare for a whole summer!_

A few years before I'd come to Pandora, I'd gotten a summer job working with young children. I'd had to learn sign language seeing as though a few of the children couldn't speak English and one small girl was deaf.

I managed to catch the blondes eye and she turned to look at me. I quickly signed that I wanted her to translate for me. She smirked mischievously and winked. We both sat on the ground facing each other as she and I began signing back and forth. The three Na'vi males looked at us in confusion for a moment. However, they quickly forgot about us and went back to their conversation, having no idea what we were up to.

"_What are you doing here brother?" _Christina signed as Kin'ta spoke.

"_You called for help! We were the first to answer the call!"_ Ra'nak responded.

"_We called for no help. What are you speaking of?"_

"_The human females told us to send our best warriors. Do you not need them?"_

Chrissy and I both froze at this. _Oh, great!_ I mentally kicked myself,_ Now what?_

"Abby!" Salynna suddenly shouted. I screamed in surprise, which caused her to scream as well.

"What's your problem stupid?!" I said, attempting not to blush at my outburst.

Salynna was clutching her sides as she laughed, barely managing to say, "You startled me when you screamed, so I screamed too!"

"I wouldn't have screamed if you hadn't startled me first!" I laughed back. By now, all three of the Na'vi were watching us. I did my best to ignore them and said, "What did you want in the first place?"

"Oh yea!" Salynna said as she bounced over to me. She then proceeded to smack me upside the head.

"Oww!" I said, ducking her next swat, "What was that for?"

"You didn't tell us where to go!" The tall blonde said as she nudged my knee with her toes, "I nearly got lost in the wilderness with these two jokes!" She gestured towards Alayna and Chrissy, who both glared at her.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking before you left!" I said, even as she smacked my arm. "Hey! You're gonna leave a bruise!"

"Ha! That's just because you're weak!"

"I am not weak!"

Suddenly, I heard Chrissy mutter under her breath, "_Pêche_."

I turned to look at her before saying, "Did you seriously just call me a peach in French?" When all she offered was a smile I said, "You're rude! I'm leaving now!"

I stood and brushed myself off before beginning the short trek back to Hometree. Without turning around, I knew that my sisters and the Na'vi were following me.

"How do you say that again in French?" I heard Alayna ask suddenly.

"Depends. What are you trying to say?" Chrissy asked over her shoulder.

"Shut your mouth. Isn't it _frapper votre bouche_?"

I laughed at this. "I think you mean_ ferme ta bouche_!_ Frapper votre bouche_ means 'hit' your mouth!"

"Yea? Well _ferme ta bouche_ before I _frapper votre bouche_!"

Keeana laughed before stating, "You can't do that! That's her sister's job!"

That got all of us laughing again. "Shannon's not that bad!" I said, which only made them laugh harder. "Guys! That's my sister you're talking about!"

"Yea, but it's true! So does it really matter?" Salynna asked.

"Just be glad she's not around to hear you say that." Was my only response.

"We don't have anything to worry about!" Keeana said, "You're the only person she _ever _goes after!"

"Don't remind me!" I said with a small laugh.

I broke through the tree line to see Hometree swarming with Na'vi, some I knew, others I didn't recognize. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm. I whirled around to see Ta'kuk gripping me, looking at Hometree in shock. Then, he turned to look at me. For a moment, I relived our first meeting. The fear I'd felt of him came rushing back to me, so strong I almost felt sick with it.

"What is this?" He hissed, gesturing towards Hometree.

I ignored him and looked away. I couldn't tell him what I'd done, I just couldn't! _Yea,_ I thought sarcastically,_ That conversation would go over real well! Sorry I didn't tell you before, but I had a dream that you're people would be slaughtered and your home destroyed by my species yet again!_

I shook my head and gazed down at his hand on my arm. _It's amazing._ I mused to myself,_ Just look at how different we are!_ The more I looked, the more differences I saw. My skin was white, his blue. I had five fingers, he had four. My skin had the odd freckle here and there, while his had beautiful tattoo like markings. _Weak against strong, prey against predator, human against Na'vi..._

_But don't forget!_ My mind whispered,_ You had his attention for a while! If things hadn't worked out this way, there may have been hope!_

I smiled bitterly at that. I was just deluding myself, there was never any hope. _The only reason he watched me was because I look like a train wreck. Horrifying to watch, and yet you just can't seem to tear your eyes away from the destruction..._

"..by... Abby!" I glanced up to see Ta'kuk still glaring at me. "Explain!" He demanded.

_What's the worst that could happen?_ I wondered hesitantly,_ He already hates my guts, so what's the harm in telling him the truth?_ And yet, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Just imagining him treating me like I was insane tore a hole through my chest and took my breath away_. No, I can't tell._

Luckily, I was saved from answering when a voice called from behind us, "Abby?" I turned and what I saw made me freeze. _It's time..._

Ta'kuk's POV

I turned quickly to see a human male regarding Abby and I. I hissed at him, but he seemed unperturbed. I nearly growled when she nodded her head in answer to the man's question.

"Good." He said with a firm nod, "I must ask you to come with me. And be warned," He smiled then before continuing, "I won't take no for an answer."

Now I did growl. _Too bad!_ I thought sullenly, _I found her first, so she's staying with me, whether you like it or not!_

The redhead just tilted her head and raised her eyebrows before asking, "What would you do if I _did_ say no?"

He chuckled at that and said, "Of course you wouldn't! Don't you want to leave this dirty place and come back to civilization?"

Ra'nak, Kin'ta, and myself, snarled at the insult._ How dare he, a pathetic sky person, insult us like that! In our territory no less! All humans are the same!_

Abby smiled lightly at this. "Think whatever you want to make yourself feel better. But remember, just because you believe something is true, doesn't mean it is." I stilled at this. It seemed like she was directing her words at the human male, and yet they seemed to have a double meaning as well. Did she know what I was thinking?

"Enough of these foolish games." The man said, clearly wanting to leave. "It's time for us to leave!"

The girl at my side tapped her finger against her lips before she said, "Hmmm... No. I don't think so."

While the male stood there, obviously shocked, Christina laughed and said, "Meet Abby. A.K.A: Walking entity of sass!"

Abby just gave a small smile and shrugged mysteriously.

"I've had enough of this! Come here now!" He grabbed the redhead, ripping her away from me.

I hissed and was about to snatch her back when Keeana suddenly said, "And I've had enough of you!" I glanced back to see she was now holding a gun, pointing it directly at the male.

"Wait." Salynna said, eyes wide, "Where were you keeping that?"

Keeana winked at her in response. "Now," She said, turning back to the human male, "You have about three seconds to let go of my sister, or I shoot."

"Ha!" The man barked out a laugh, "You don't have the guts!"

"Wanna bet?" Keeana said, her face completely blank. "Three. Two." She fired then, hitting him between they eyes. Abby's eyes shut tightly and she scrunched up her nose as she was splattered in his blood and he collapsed at her feet. "One." Keeana said cheerfully.

"Ew." Was the only reaction the now bloody Abby gave before she turned and said, "Nice comeback though Kee!"

"I know," The brunette beamed, "I've always wanted to say that!"

I stared in surprise at how calm all of the girls were. They had just killed a person of their own species, and yet they barely even reacted to it!

"Abby! What have you done?" I growled when Turner approached her, reaching out to wipe the blood from her face.

_Get away from her!_ I snarled in my head,_ It's my job to care for her! Not yours!_ I didn't know when I'd made that decision, but it just seemed right to me.

I nearly smirked when she took a step back from him, preventing contact. "Technically," The afore mentioned girl said, "I didn't kill him. Keeana did. But that's beside the point." She now folded her arms and glared at the Dreamwalker before her, "Do I look stupid to you? Because I assure you, I'm not!"

"Wha-" The fake Na'vi began, but she cut him off.

"Tell them to show themselves. I know they're there!"

Turner shut his mouth and narrowed his eyes at her. When she didn't waver, he looked up, over her head, and nodded once.

Suddenly, it seemed as though we were surrounded by human warriors._ How did we miss this?_ I wondered as other Na'vi began noticing the soldiers. They snarled and jumped into action, grabbing weapons and preparing for battle. I grabbed Abby and dragged her behind me, pulling out one of my concealed daggers and hissing.

The Dreamwalker grinned at her over my shoulder, proudly asking, "Aren't you surprised? Don't you want to know why I did this?"

The male frowned when she shook her head. "No. Not really. I had you figured out right from the beginning."

Her confession surprised me, and yet it also answered some of my previous questions. _That explains why she sent the other humans out to gather the other tribes. But still, how did she know this was going to happen?_

"The Na'vi are prepared to fight, and my sisters and I have no problem fighting along side them to stop you!" She said bravely, chin held high.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, I wanted to turn and embrace her. I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and hold onto her. I didn't understand how she knew all of these things, but I honestly couldn't care less._ There's no way I'll ever let her go now._

Turner smiled and began, "Abby, Darling, I don't want a war! I don't want to fight-"

"Don't lie." She hissed, glaring up at him, "It's a cowardly thing to do!"

He frowned and growled, "Don't make me do this!"

_Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu*_ grinned and stated, "As I said before, we're prepared to fight!"

**Abby: Cliffhanger! DUN DUN DUN! :D**

**Christina: HOLY CRAP! That was sooooo intense!**

**Abby: I know right! It was pretty great, wasn't it Christian!**

**Christina: Abby... You spelled my name wrong...**

**Abby: No I didn't! That's your new name! At least, it is according to the lady at **_**Starbucks!**_

**Christina: Don't even get me started! Do I look like a Christian to you! No! I don't! UGG!**

**Abby: HAHA! I guess that mean you look like a guy! :3**

**Christina: Be careful what you say! I have a secret that you want to keep hidden!**

**Abby: Oh yea? What?**

**Christina: Abby's secret crush gave her a hug at his 18th birthday party 2 weeks ago and she nearly passed out!**

**Abby: O/O AAAAHHHH! HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THAT?**

**Christina: I have my ways!**

**Abby: T_T I'm just gonna go die in the hole of embarrassment now... As always, please review and favourite!**

_**Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu* = My Little Warrior**_


	16. All is Lost

**Abby: Heeyyy! Sorry it's been soooooo long since my last update! Lots of stuff has been happening in my life lately! :D**

**Chrissy: Oh yea? You say that every time you make an update! What've you been up to this time?**

**Abby: Weeeellll, for starters I took my grade 12 pe-cal over the summer- and let me tell you, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done (I had 20 days to finish 5 months worth of work)- to lighten my course load this year (which means I'll have lots more time to write! XD). I've also been working, teaching dance to little kids, signing up for scholarships, and I wanted this chapter to be really good! It's kinda the most important one in the series!**

**Chrissy: Dear lord, do less things! I can't stand all the waiting between updates!**

**Abby: Well then, I guess you don't want to read them in advance then...**

**Chrissy: I never said that!**

**Abby: *Not listening* I don't blame you, you've been really busy to after all, especially with that new BOYFRIEND of yours!**

**Chrissy: O/O HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THAT?**

**Abby: I have my ways! Which reminds me, remember last time when I mentioned that the lady at our local Starbucks calls her Christian for some reason? Yea, well, the funny thing it, her boyfriends name is Christian! Haha, I find that amusing! :3 Anywho, I wanna thank a few people before the story!**

**EpicJesus: I totally agree! Turner is a complete asshole! He actually turned out a lot worse than I had originally planned, but I just couldn't stop myself! XD**

**Pink Alpaca: I'm glad you like the story! It's also nice to hear that someone has the same name as me! I've never actually met another Abby before, haha! And as for how the other girls got to Pandora and were captured by the Na'vi... You're just gonna have to wait and see! :D**

**SlenderMan: Your review has to be one of my favourites! I'm so glad you like my story, and as for your monkey... I guess it got lost in the ma**i**l system somewhere! Doesn't surprise me though, we've been having quite a few blizzards up in Canada this year! ;D**

**Autobot-Bre, Lucarby, PhoenyxWarrior, rangergilan, diana22sam02, itswafflesbeach, Lucas Bane, Goldweatherman, falkenfeder94, KitaKat, Dropout bear9, Sam0728, Coperta Di Neve Giglio, jamie0360, KingSquatch, Enigma180, DarkFireNyx, trickstersink, jigokunooujo, KnightStar0146,****EFJRAD, AmericanBeautyVampireGirl, Paige Uzumaki Sohma Albarn, Sassi15, , The Draconian Knig****ht, ****Spiderman15, A-Broken-Amethyst-Heart, DarkFireNyx, AnonRyder23, ****and mercenarybunny!**

**Abby: ON WITH THE STORY! (Please note that I own nothing other than my own characters and plot bunnies, because if I did I would totally be making a second movie already!)**

Abby's POV:

Everything seemed to go to Hell in a handbasket within seconds. Suddenly, everyone was shouting and yelling, both sides taking shots at each other.

Turner stepped toward me, obviously intending to pull me out of the way, but Alayna ran up behind me and pulled me back. When he stooped lower and hissed at her, she yelled, "Fuck off!" then leaned back and kicked him in the face. His head snapped back, blood streaming from his nose.

We both moved back, Alayna laughing maniacally, trying to find any sign of the other girls. I could feel my chest getting tight, my worst fears becoming a reality. I could hear guns firing, women and children screaming. Tears began to prick the back of my eyes.

_It's not fair!_ I thought, holding back the tears as Alayna and I ducked and weaved our way across the battlefield, _This is all my fault! This wouldn't be happening if I had never left the compound!_

"Abby!" I looked over to see Salynna waving her arms crazily above her head. "Over here!"

"No shit Sherlock!" Alayna yelled back as we both made our way towards her.

"Fuck you! And Catch!" The blonde said, flipping Alayna the bird before tossing a bow and a quiver of arrows at me. I caught both, strapping the quiver to my back and testing the pull-back of the bows string. It was well made, pulling back with ease. _Well what did you expect?_ I chastised myself, _It _was_ made by the Na'vi after all._

"Guys!" Christina called suddenly, "I could use some cover fire!"

"Do you need me over there?" Keeana shouted from her vantage point in a tree above us, continuing to fire her scoped rifle at oncoming soldiers.

"Nah! I've got her back!" I yelled, notching an arrow and pulling back on the string. I let it fly, watching as it struck down one of the men surrounding Chrissy. I ran to her as fast as I could, continuing to fire arrows as I went.

I finally reached her, using my bow to smack someone across the face. Christina slashed out at another, slamming one of her dual blades directly into his jugular.

"Well," She said, wiping some of the blood spatter off of her face, "It's kinda like playing a video game. It's just a little more... Disgusting."

I laughed at that despite myself. "Leave it to you to come up with a comment like that after you've just killed somebody!" She grinned over at me sheepishly, but said nothing more.

We heard several shouts from nearby right before something exploded, knocking both of us to the ground. I felt a sharp pain in my arm, but I ignored it. I pushed myself up, using the bow to keep myself steady.

"Are you two alright over there?" Keeana called from her perch, reloading her rifle.

"We're fine!" I shouted back, helping Chrissy stand up as well.

"Yea, well, I could use a little help over here!" Chrissy and I looked over to see Salynna being pinned down by several men.

"I've got her." Chrissy said before she took off towards the other blonde.

"Hey Abbs!" Keeana called, aiming down her scope, "Watch your six!"

I whipped around to see Turner coming up behind me. _Ah shit!_ I thought,_ Do I really have to deal with you? Seriously?!_

"Abby, get over here!" He hissed, reaching out towards me, "We're leaving."

"Um, how about no?" I said, glancing around for help.

He quickly closed the distance between us, grabbing me by the upper arm. I tried to pull free, but his grip was too strong in his Na'vi body. Hearing a low growling, I looked past him. Just beyond, barely covered in the undergrowth, were several _Nantang*_. Keeping low to the ground, they crept closer.

"Come on now Sweetheart, lets go." Turner said, trying to pull me along.

"_Get off me!_" I screamed. I grabbed his queue and pulled his head down just as I brought my knee up. I nailed him in the face and he let go. Suddenly, the _Nantang_ leapt into action. They charged him, snarling and snapping their powerful jaws.

I heard another growl from behind me, and I turned to see a _Palulukan*_ stalking towards me. I froze, unsure of how to react. It slowly approached and when it was within arms length of me, it stopped. It stared at me, seemingly waiting for me to move first.

Carefully, I reached out my hand and ran it along the creatures armored skin. I drifted my fingers over one of the many quills on its head and it leaned closer towards me.

"Woman! Help me!" Turner cried, desperately trying to fight off the _Nantang_. The _Palulukan_ hissed, a low menacing sound, and moved to stand between he and I.

"You're protecting me." I whispered, shock coursing though me. The giant creature merely grunted, eyes never leaving Turner. "Thank you." I murmured, burying my face into its neck. Being this close to it, I could hear a sound deep in its chest which sounded a lot like purring.

I heard Alayna scream from across the battlefield. I tried to spot her, but I couldn't see through the fighting soldiers and Na'vi. The _Palulukan_ crouched down, clearly waiting for me to climb onto its back. I did so, pulling myself up gingerly. The massive monster stood, its muscles moving beneath me.

I hesitated, looking back once more at Turner. He was being dragged off into the surrounding foliage by the _Nantang_. I felt a pang deep inside my heart, and yet I knew that if they hadn't attacked him, I probably wouldn't have gotten away. I shook my head and gathered my resolve.

The _Palulukan_ growled again, tossing its head restlessly. I grinned, a sudden feeling of exhilaration coming over me.

"Alright," I murmured to it, petting its neck, "Let's go!"

Ta'kuk's POV:

I tightened my grip on my dual blades, running swiftly across the battlefield. As I made my way through the carnage, I sought any sign of _Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu*. _I had expected to see at least a glimpse of her red hair, but I saw nothing of the sort. I was beginning to feel panic setting in, but I shoved it away, desperately trying not to think of all of the horrible things that could've befallen her while I wasn't with her.

_It's not like she needs your help._ I told myself furiously, _She's a strong girl, she can handle herself._ I had to shake my head at that. She wasn't just a strong girl, she was a strong young _woman._

A sudden shout caught my attention, "Get off of me you bastard!" Immediately I knew the voice belonged to the redhead occupying my thoughts. Whipping around, I could hardly believe my eyes.

There she was, sitting astride a _Palulukan _as if it were something she did on a regular basis. She was wielding a bow in one hand, which she was using to try and fend off a soldier that had latched himself onto her arm, and with her other she was gripping the snarling beast. I watched on in horror as the _Palulukan _turned towards the human and lashed out at him, dislodging its rider with the sharp movement. She quickly recovered however, getting to her feet quickly to avoid being shot. Without a moment to spare she jumped back into the battle, notching an arrow into her bow and letting it fly.

I ran towards her, not sure if I should be impressed by her bravery or angered at her willingness to leap into battle without hesitation.

When I finally reached her she was engaged in combat, attacking her adversary ruthlessly with an arrow, her bow all but forgotten as she struggled against him.

I reached out and tore the human away from her, tossing him away without another though. She looked up at me in surprise, revealing a large cut running just above her eyebrow.

"It's nothing, really. It could be a lot worse." She said, seeming to guess what I was looking at. Tearing off a piece of fabric from the shoulder of her shirt, she brushed at it, smearing blood across her forehead.

She looked over my shoulder then and snickered, covering her mouth with a bloodied hand. I turned to see the Dreamwalker staggering out from the surrounding foliage, his body covered in cuts and bite marks.

I looked back down at her, nearly smiling when she grinned up at me and said, "What? I didn't do that. I just facilitated it."

The Dreamwalker suddenly fell face first to the ground, unmoving. "Normally I'd feel bad about this," She spoke softly, barely audible over the sounds of the battle raging around us, "But I just can't bring myself to. Not this time."

"Abby!" We both turned to see Chrissy and Ra'nak jogging towards us. They both froze suddenly looking behind us. I heard a quiet click and then a voice, "Don't even think about it."

We turned to see another young human female standing behind us, a gun pointed straight at the woman beside me. My heart felt as if it were going to burst. _This can't be right._

"Shannon." The redhead nodded her head lightly in acknowledgment.

_I've heard that name..._ I thought, desperately trying to remember where I'd heard it before.

My question was answered almost immediately when the other female responded with, "Baby sister."

_So this is her blood sister._ I thought, appraising the woman in front of me.

It was just as the other girls had predicted, the two sisters looked _nothing _alike. The older girl didn't have the tumble of the wild, fiery red hair I had come to know so well. Instead, she sported pin straight, dark brown hair that bordered on black, the blonde hair on the top of her head the only telltale sign that it wasn't her real hair colour.

Moving on, I took in her blue-gray eyes, so different from her sisters. Her eyes were cold, cruel and calculating, lacking the warmth and love that could always be found in Abby's.

I noted that the eldest girl had tanned skin and was short and stocky, again the opposite of her sister, who was tall, graceful, and had perfectly pale skin_. Well, other than the adorable dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks that she hates so much._ I thought, trying not to laugh at my choice of words. Adorable? Since when did I _ever_ use that word to describe anything?_ Since you met _her.My mind whispered.

I thought back over all of my observations and nearly laughed again. I had compared the two every time I noticed something, always finding a reason for Abby to be better. _You'd think I had a bias in favor of the younger sister,_ I thought sarcastically._ It's not like I can truly help it though. How could anyone resist falling in love with one of the finest creatures ever made?_

I was struck dumb for a moment, thinking hard. _Yes. I'm in love with her._

Looking back I realized how blind I'd been. The need to have her close, the anger that rose whenever I thought about her being with someone else, the urge to protect her, now and in the future, the irritation of not being able to take away the pain she'd experienced in the past. How had I not noticed it earlier?

"I'm not nearly so young anymore, nor am I half as foolish or inexperienced." The woman next to me said suddenly, "I've seen and done far more than you can possibly imagine in the short while I've been here."

"Believe me," Her sister said, sneering in distain at the younger woman, "I can. I've lived with your crazy ass long enough to know exactly what you're talking about.

"What are you doing here?" The redhead asked, face blank. Seeing her like this unnerved me. I was so used to seeing her emotions on her face, being able to just know how she felt without asking. I willed her to open up, even if it was just for a moment, so I could know what was going through that pretty head of hers.

"I would've thought that was obvious." The older girl sneered, "Then again, it's probably hard for an idiot like you to grasp any concept, no matter how simple it is."

I glared at the older sister now, muscles tense. I didn't know what had happened in the past, but I knew that _she_ had been the cause for a lot of the pain her younger sister had gone though. I didn't know what she'd done or why she'd done it, but I hated her for it.

Abby shrugged her shoulders before saying, "I don't have any trouble grasping any concept. I'm just wondering why you'd bother showing up if you'd already sold me to someone else."

Her sister laughed and stated, "Yes, I sold you to Turner, but how could I have enjoyed your misery if I wasn't here in person?"

_She _was the reason another man had tried to claim rights to what was mine? I was going to destroy her when I got my hands on her!

"If that's all you have to say, then I have to go. I have more important things to do than stand here and have you waste my time." The younger girl said with a roll of her eyes.

"Running away, I see! That's so like you!" The other girl spat, her cold eyes now filled with hatred, "No wonder dad was ashamed of you!" She laughed again when Abby tensed, "That's right! He never loved you! He felt sorry for you!"

"Are you done now?" The woman next to me was still eerily quiet and emotionless.

Seething, the eldest sister turned to look at the people around her, grinning when her eyes found me. "That's right!" She exclaimed, turning back to her sibling, "They don't know the truth about you, do they?" She asked, nodding towards the other Ra'nak and I.

I watched as Abby paled, eyes widening.

"Shut your goddamned mouth!" Christina yelled suddenly, the outburst seeming to surprise Ra'nak.

"I'll take that as a 'no'." The older girl smiled again, "In that case, I'll take it upon myself to educate them." She turned to regard Ra'nak and I, "She's insane." She said this calmly, unflinching, "In more than one way. She claims she can talk to the dead, that she can see the future as she sleeps. She talks to her delusions too, says they speak to her in return. That they show her how they died." She now turned to look at her sister again, "Isn't that right, sister dear?"

I glanced at the redhead, shock making me numb. She had the same gift the Tsahik were blessed with? I thought back. It all made sense now! All of the times she'd become unfocused, almost as if she was listening to something no one else could hear. The fear she'd sometimes shown at what appeared to be random moments. Her summoning of the other Na'vi clans... Of course! She must've had a vision depicting the attack on Hometree!

Regret washed over me. She'd done everything in her power to make sure that nothing bad happened to the Na'vi. And what had I done? I'd destroyed her, nearly undoing what she'd done to protect my people, and now she was in danger from the very person that was responsible for everything that had happened.

The redhead said nothing for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and said, "_Now_ are you done?"

The older girl spluttered indignantly before saying, "Do as you will, but surely you must realize that no one here will ever accept you, knowing the sordid past you have."

"Thank you for your sage advice, but I think I'll manage somehow."

"Fine! I'm done with you anyway!" The older brunette said, turning to storm away. She cried out when the Dreamwalker suddenly reached out and gripped her leg. She fell unceremoniously to the ground, looking at him in shock.

"You might be done," He snarled, laboring to his feet, "But I sure as Hell am not!"

He grabbed the gun and aimed it at the redhead.

"No!" I shouted, trying to lunge forward to protect her, but a pair of hands held me back. All I could do was watch in horror as the human turned Na'vi pulled the trigger.

_BANG!_

The area was deathly silent then, almost as if even the forest was holding its breath.

The younger girl smiled then, blood beginning to drip from the corner of her mouth.

"_I'm gonna kill you!"_ The shriek had come from the blonde, who was now being held back by Ra'nak. She struggled against him even as the Dreamwalker rushed away, quickly disappearing into the darkness of the surrounding foliage.

I strode towards Abby, watching as her legs began to buckle under her weight. I caught her as she fell, felt her go limp in my arms. I leaned her back, brushing a few strands of hair from her face.

"Guys! Get over here! Abby's hurt!" Chrissy shouted, garnering the attention of the other human females.

As the three of them rushed over, I pressed my hand against her wound, desperately willing her pain away. She moaned lightly, tears beginning to leak from the corners of her eyes.

"It's alright, _Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu._" I murmured, drawing her closer and petting her hair softly.

"You'll be alright, won't you?" Chrissy asked tearfully as the other girls looked on in shock.

The redhead only shook her head, whispering, "For once, I truly have no idea."

Glancing up I watched as Kin'ta gathered a now crying Keeana into his arms and Ra'nak placed a hand on Christina's shaking shoulders.

Looking back down at the woman in my own arms, I could only watch on in horror as she slowly faded into unconsciousness.

**Abby: *Mumbling quietly***

**Salynna: Uuuhhh... Abby? Are you feeling okay?**

**Abby: *Mumbling gets louder***

**Ta'kuk: **_**Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu***_** are you feeling alright?**

**Abby: Force is equal to B multiplied by I multiplied by L. I actually stands for current, even though it makes no sense whatsoever, because they don't even start with the same letter! FUCK ME SIDEWAYS WITH A CHAINSAW!**

**Salynna: Oh, studying for physics are we?**

**Ta'kuk: Is this normal for her?**

**Salynna: Sadly, yes. *Runs over and slaps Abby***

**Abby: WHAT THE FU-**

**Salynna: That's all folks! No need for profanity now!**

**Abby: Haha! Fuck you! Get back here! *Chases Salynna***

**Salynna: Love you too Doll! :D**

**Abby: Hopefully the next chapter will be posted soon. I'm just about to finish my physics and chemistry courses in school, and all I have next semester is English, so life should get nice and easy for a while! See you soon guys! Oh, and as always, REVIEW! I do so love them, and as I always say: Reviews are like a giant ass chocolate chip lava cookies to authors! :D**


	17. Now is the Time to Act!

**Abby: I've returned, once again, to give you yet another amazing chapter! Although, it is with a bit of sadness this time...**

**Alayna: Oh God! Don't tell me you're going to discontinue the story! I think I'm going to cry! TT_TT**

**Abby: Of course not! I would never do something like that! I've worked way to hard for way to long to ever even contemplate stopping!**

**Alayna: So, if that's not the sad news, what is?**

**Abby: Well, because I love you so much, I'll give you three guesses. *Mutters* First two don't count...**

**Alayna: What was that last part?**

**Abby: Oh, nothing!**

**Alayna: You have to move?**

**Abby: Nope.**

**Alayna: You are getting kicked out of school?**

**Abby: Of course not! Who do you think you're talking to?!**

**Alayna: Sorry, sorry! Umm... Alright... Yea, I have no clue! XD**

**Abby: *Sigh* This is the second-to-last chapter! The story is almost over!**

**Alayna: Oh... My... God... No! I was really enjoying it!**

**Abby: Well, tough luck Buttercup! So, as per usual, I'd just like to answer some reviews and say thanks to a few people!**

**Lady Greyshadow: Here you go! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

**Atsirk Enoh: I'm glad you found the chapter to your liking, and as for the chainsaw... That's a long story! Haha!**

**RedRoset: Thank you so much for your kind words and support! It's people like you that make me want to continue writing! **

**Autobot-Bre, Lucarby, PhoenyxWarrior, rangergilan, diana22sam02, itswafflesbeach, Lucas Bane, Goldweatherman, falkenfeder94, KitaKat, Dropout bear9, Sam0728, Coperta Di Neve Giglio, jamie0360, KingSquatch, Enigma180, DarkFireNyx, trickstersink, jigokunooujo, KnightStar0146,****EFJRAD, AmericanBeautyVampireGirl, Paige Uzumaki Sohma Albarn, Sassi15, , The Draconian Knig****ht, ****Spiderman15, A-Broken-Amethyst-Heart, AnonRyder23, Pink Alpaca, Lady Greyshadow, EpicJesus, SlenderMan, Atsirk Enoh, RedRoset, ****and mercenarybunny!**

**Oh, and one more thing...**

**Alayna: What now?!**

**Abby: I've decided to dedicate each chapter to a different person. I want you all to know how much I truly love your reviews, so I thought this would be a nice touch. After all, you guys are the reason I write! With that said, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to...**

**RedRoset!**

**Abby: Alrighty folks! Let's get this show on the road, so to speak! Here we go, enjoy! :D**

Ta'kuk's POV:

The days seemed to pass by in a haze, Abby's condition never seeming to improve. I found myself spending most of my time at her side, scarcely able to drag myself away. She was still far too pale, and I found the image of her covered in her own blood imprinted on the inside of my eyelids. Every time I closed my eyes, it was all I could see.

On the rare occasions I actually managed to fall asleep, I dreamed of her or, more specifically, I dreamed of what I assumed to be moments from her childhood. The first dream came to me just a few days after she'd fallen into what the other girls called a 'coma'. It was clear to me from this first vision that she'd had a hard life, and that it had started very early on.

I watched her first brush with death when she was all of three years old. She'd gotten extremely ill, foregoing all food until she became so weak her heart actually gave out a few times. In the back of my mind I knew that she'd survived this particular incident, but I found myself tensing every time she had to be revived. However, the moment that really made me panic was the one and only instance in which she actually spoke during the entire vision. She'd turned to her mother, who had been crying in a chair next to the bed, and she smiled and said, "It's okay, I'm not afraid to die. If it's my time, I'm ready to go." Her mother had been inconsolable for nearly two hours after that.

The final time her heart gave out, she was pronounced dead by the healers watching over her. I didn't know what had transpired during that time, but after what seemed to be the longest five minutes of my life, her heart began to beat again on its own. She woke up shortly after, but things had changed. She complained about the other children in the room with her, however she was the only child anyone could see. The healers said the 'children' were a figment of her imagination, created by what they called 'Cerebral hypoxia'. They said it had something to do with limited oxygen reaching her brain, but I wasn't truly listening to them, too busy watching the small terrified girl curled in a ball on the bed.

Upon waking from the dream, I realized that her brush with death was where she'd gained her powers as a Seer. For the remainder of the day after the vision, I stayed by her side, unwilling to leave her alone for even a moment.

After that first memory, I was only able to see snippets of her past. With every passing moment, I found myself falling deeper and deeper in love with her.

_Yes._ I thought. _I do love this human._ There was no point in denying it. At some point or another she'd managed to crawl under my skin, becoming something I couldn't live without.

I watched as she grew into a confident child, constantly laughing and smiling at everyone and everything around her. I also watched as she fell apart during her fathers illness. She became reserved and quiet, all traces of the child she'd been were gone. However, there were also times when her true personality shined through. She pushed herself in her dance training, working until her feet began to bleed. Her stubbornness and perfectionism refusing to let her rest until she could do whatever it was she wanted to achieve.

She also somehow managed to stay calm during dire situations, even when her mother and sister couldn't seem to do anything out of fear. On several occasions she'd managed to save her fathers life without batting an eye.

While I wished she hadn't been forced to endure all of the hardships she'd been through, I also knew that those hardships had molded her into the woman I'd fallen in love with, and that was something I couldn't regret.

If she hadn't been through all of these things, she may not have traveled to Pandora and I never would have known her. I shook my head at this. Had I really thought about returning her to her own people at one point? I couldn't even remember life before she had come crashing into my world, filling it with light and warmth. _And to think it all started with name calling and a staring contest._ I grinned, thinking back on the moment her stubborn side had cropped up. She'd glared up at me with those green eyes of hers, and I'd immediately known something was different about her.

I was pulled out of my musings when an angry Keeana came stomping towards me, a seething Kin'ta on her heels. I had to swallow a hiss of frustration. For several days the brunette had been trying to convince Kin'ta and I that Abby would be better off at the humans compound. Her argument was about humans having better medical technology or something. I didn't care. The moment she'd mentioned giving the injured girl to the humans I'd stopped listening. _Not going to happen. _I thought,_ End of story._ That hadn't stopped her from trying though.

She stopped next to me, folding her arms over her chest, and said, "The longer she sits here the worse she's going to get. Can we move her now or what?"

"Not going to happen. End of story." I said, parroting my earlier thoughts.

The woman clenched her fists and glared at me. "Who are you to say what's best for her? You're part of the reason she's in this mess!"

Her words struck a nerve, but I kept my resolve.

"Kee, calm down." This came from Christina, who had been speaking to Ra'nak. She hadn't even turned around, almost as if she'd guessed her words weren't going to do any good.

"I'm not calming down! There's nothing to be calm about!"

"She may not be awake, but she's still alive. That's something to be calm about." This came from Alayna, who was sitting in the hammock next to Abby's.

"Yea," Salynna said, all but leaping into the hammock with Alayna, "What she said!" She tossed her legs over her friends and grinned at Keeana, who was now fuming.

"Now you guys are just being ridiculous!"

"You're loud, has anyone ever told you that?"

I whipped my head towards the redhead, who was now fully awake, even as the two girls next to her nearly fell out of their shared hammock. Christina looked surprised as well, but managed to do so while maintaining a certain amount of poise.

Keeana on the other side hadn't seemed to register just who was addressing her, because she ground out, "Quiet you!"

"Sorry I asked..."

I looked down at the mildly amused girl, unable to bring myself closer to her. After everything she'd been through, I'd already decided to give her some space.

_But not too much space._ I reminded myself. I'd seen enough of her past to know that she could react one of two ways. She would either brush of the whole incident, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, or she would let past guilt consume her and she'd try to take measures to make it right in her mind. It was clear that she blamed herself for the entire situation, so I was leaning more towards the latter than the former.

"We're moving her! All we're doing is wasting time here!" Keeana was saying, so focused on her argument she still hadn't realized it was Abby speaking to her.

"Do I get a say in this?"

"No! Now hush!"

"Okay."

Alayna opened her mouth to point out the obvious, but Abby merely held up a finger, watching Keeana with raised eyebrows.

"She's clearly not getting better! So can we just stop arguing about this and-" The brunette stopped suddenly and looked over her shoulder at her now conscious friend.

"Hi."

"What the hell?!" Keeana asked, glaring daggers at the now laughing redhead, "You could've told me you were okay you know!"

"I know!" Abby gasped, "But it was way more fun this way!"

"How are you feeling?" Alayna asked as she attempted to detangle herself from the leggy blonde.

"Like I've been shot," She said, adding what sounded like 'imagine that' under her breath. "How do you feel? I can't imagine having Salynna fall on you was too much fun."

"Ha. Ha. Real funny girly!" The blonde replied, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"We were so worried about you! We weren't sure you were going to make it..." Christina said, eyebrows knitted together.

"Oh please! I'm harder to kill than a cockroach! You're stuck with me for a while yet."

"If you and I hadn't had the same blood type, you may not have been so lucky..."

Abby gave the younger girl an odd smile and said, "There are more forces at work here than you know. Although I still do thank you for the quick reaction time."

"So how long have you been awake anyway?" This came from Keeana, who seemed to have finally gotten over her initial shock.

"Long enough to know that you're really crabby today!"

"You know, if you weren't recovering and if we hadn't spent all that time trying to make sure you'd survive, I'd smack you into another coma!"

This sent the recovering girl into another fit of giggles. Then, as if everything were completely normal, the girls moved closer together and began chatting and laughing.

Somewhat used to this, Kin'ta and I tried not to laugh at the now seriously confused Ra'nak. He seemed completely mystified at the girls behaviour, so Kin'ta slapped him on the shoulder and guided him away from the humans and I followed behind.

We spent the next few hours discussing Ra'nak's plan for returning to his home along with his warriors, but after we'd parted I found myself walking back towards the healers. I'd truly intended to keep my distance from the redhead, but it was harder than I thought it would be.

I could still hear the girls talking amongst themselves, so I was surprised to find Christina perched on one of the lower branches before me.

"She's not here you know." The blonde said, cocking her head slightly.

"What do you mean 'She's not here'?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

"Abby. She left a while ago." The younger woman motioned towards a close section of forest, "Said something about needing to figure something out. I managed to keep the other girls contained, but it's not going to take long for them to start worrying about her."

"So you feel the need to tell me this?"

The usually bubbly girl regarded me for a moment before saying, "You know her as well as I do, if not better at this point." I tried not to show it, but I felt a swell of pride at this. If Christina had noticed anything she didn't comment on it, instead she continued on, "She's planning something, and I don't like it. She was far too quiet earlier, very guarded with what she said to us."

I said nothing, giving her a blank look.

"I'm her best friend, her sister, and the closest thing she has to a therapist. There's nothing we don't tell each other. Without ever saying a word, she can read my thoughts and emotions, just as I can read hers. She truly cares for all of your people, but it's more than that. There is something about _you_ that changes her. She's always been a reserved person, the type to go without something she wants because she feels like she doesn't deserve it for one reason or another. I've never second-guessed her decisions before, but this time I am.

She has clearly figured out what's going on around here, even when the rest of us have no idea. She will force herself to do what she thinks is right, no matter how much she doesn't want to..."

"Why are you telling me this?" I ground out, clenching my hands into fists. "_What _are you telling me?"

"The other girls may not feel the same way, but I think you're the one for her. The way she acts around you is different from any other interaction she takes part in. She's drawn to you in a way that I can't explain, in a way that I know can never be recreated no matter who she's with. All I can do is hope for the best really, because she's been though enough. I don't want her hurting herself, so listen closely to me because you're not going to have a lot of time.

Abby is not the type of person to easily forgive, she holds grudges like a champion, once trust is lost it is not given freely again. However, because she acts differently around you, I believe you'll have a small window of opportunity to sway her opinion and change her mind about whatever it is she's planning. She's always in control, so you'll need to pull the rug out from under her feet, so to speak. You can't be weak in this, because the moment she senses anything, she'll use it to her advantage. Prove to her that you can handle yourself, and that you can handle her. Abby's one true fear is that people will think she's crazy because of her abilities. You and your people understand and accept these things much more easily than humans do, so she's basically just reacting on an irrational fear. Stay firm in your beliefs, and she will have no ground to stand on. Once she can see that there's no way to change your mind, she herself might just cave in. No one's ever attempted anything like this before with her, so this is all assumption and speculation on my part. But if anyone's going to be capable of doing it, it's you."

I nodded. It was all going to come down to this. If I messed this up, it was all over.

_I won't screw this up._ I thought to myself. After everything I'd seen and come to understand about _Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu*,_ there was no doubt in my mind regarding her abilities. She'd rallied enough warriors to win the battle of Hometree, had known exactly how and when to react, and her bravery had never faltered. She was sure in her decision, just as I was now sure in mine.

Without another word to the blonde human, I turned and strode towards the forest. I felt as if I were prepping for the most important battle of my life. No matter what, I was going to come out of this victoriously.

I was so focused on my goal that I nearly missed Christina's whispered words, carried to me on the wind.

"_Good luck."_

_**Abby: This is it folks! It's all come down to this one final moment!**_

_**Salynna: Wow! You've turned into the literal 'Mama of Drama'!**_

_**Abby: You think so? ^_^' Woopsies! Ah well! What'cha gon do 'bout it?**_

_**Salynna: We're almost there! I can't believe it! How's this all going to play out? Tell me!**_

_**Abby: Nope! Sorry, but that's not going to happen! I've decided on an ending, but it might not be the ending you're expecting!**_

_**Salynna: It had better be! I've been shipping you and Ta'kuk from the start! I even had a T-shirt made that says 'Ta'kuk and Abby = Cutest Couple'!**_

_**Abby: Umm... I don't know how to feel about that... Haha! Well, I just wanted to tell you guys that I'm still planning on writing the sequels to this story (it might take a while, but good things come to those who are willing to wait a long ass time for good things to come!) so PM me, let me know which sequel you want to see next! Also, I would love to know if there's any artists out there that want to create some fan stuff! If you do I'd be more than happy to put it up as the cover picture for my story! I know it's a lot to ask for, but if you have the time and you wanna do it, I'd love to see it! ;D See you next time my little lovelies!**_

_**P.S. I do so love reviews! They are my crack cocaine! XD**_

_**Oeyä hì'i tsamsiyu* = My Little Warrior**_


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